


Who Said I Was An Angel

by PigSlay



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Nonbinary Character, Racism at one part, guns sold on the black market, misgendering that immediately gets apologized for and then never done again, nonbinary Niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-13 01:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15352878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PigSlay/pseuds/PigSlay
Summary: What do you get when you cross a 25-year-old who just wants to save the world with a 24-year-old that's working for a company plotting to destroy the world? Why, true love of course.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geewhizmo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geewhizmo/gifts).



> I don’t know One Direction nor do I own the Book(s) of the Dead. As a little bit of background info, I first started writing this in October when I was in a World Literature I class. One of our readings was a translation of the Papyrus of Ani. During that session I was inspired because my teacher told us that there were thousands of Books of the Dead made, like one for every person you could imagine (except for servants). And so when I was starting on this fanfic I decided to work that into this story a little bit – as much as I felt I could do justice, at least – however, I have not studied Egyptology outside of the stuff used in this fanfic so if anybody feels I misrepresented Egyptology/Egyptian culture, please tell me in the comments.
> 
> OH. MY. GOSH. IT'S FINALLY FINISHED, LOOK AT THAT! I can't even tell you guys what I have gone through with this fic - I started it on October 3, 2017 and finished it on July 2, 2018. THAT'S A LONGGG TIME. THAT'S THE LENGTH OF A PREGNANCY. Hahaha. And without my beta readers - tumblr users datzialltho, queerlyalex, and littlepetlouis - I would not have felt confident posting it. So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.
> 
> Another thank you to Janee. She has heard it all. She has had to deal with me saying "this thing is NEVER gonna get finished" and "can't it just write itself?" too many times to count. Hahaha. So thank you Janee.
> 
> And lastly I thank geewhizmo. For this prompt way back in the Fall 2017 Zarry fic exchange. I loved all of your prompts so much that just writing one fic for you wasn't enough. I had to write this one too. (And... I'm also gonna write one more after this too hahaha). Hopefully it's everything you wanted out of this prompt. :) <3

Ever since they were sixteen, Zayn along with his friends Liam and Louis have been saving the world one mission at a time.

They had a bit of a rough start; when they first became a team it was hard for them to even get a cat out of a tree, much less take down an alarms system.

And yet here they are, no longer sixteen, doing that and much more. Like right now: Louis has helped them locate a stolen artifact hidden in a museum, and is taking the steps on his computer to make sure Zayn and Liam’s paths are clear.

“Okay Zayn,” Louis whispers in Zayn’s in-ear. “You should be clear to get the artifact. Go, hurry.”

Zayn tiptoes forward, walking down a long hallway until he reaches a mostly empty room. He opens the display area where the artifact is kept inside a glass case. He gets it out quickly and sneaks right back out. He passes where Liam is hanging out in the shadows, ready to pounce if Zayn got caught. Luckily, he doesn't have to after all.

“Wow,” Liam whispers as Zayn walks back out the way he originally went in. “That was amazing, Zayn. Now let’s get this back to Cairo where it belongs.” Zayn nods and the two of them quickly crawl outside to where Louis is.

“Well done, boys,” Louis says. “Well, mostly well done Zayn. Liam, you didn’t end up having to do anything.” Liam glares slightly. “Hey, it’s a good thing, it means we weren’t caught. Now, let’s continue that trend by sending this baby on its way.”

The three of them drive away to meet Nick, one of Louis’ closest friends, who has helped them on many of their missions.

After Louis makes triple sure it’s Nick’s license plate number (as always), all four boys step out to meet each other.

“Okay Nick,” Louis says, after Zayn gives him the artifact. “Make sure this goes back to Cairo, Egypt.”

“Of course,” Nick responds with a smile. “Always happy to help Mystery Incorporated.” He winks. Liam giggles.

“Liam, he’s made that joke a gazillion times already and you still crack up every time,” Zayn says, rolling his eyes fondly.

“Like, have a sense of humor sometime, Zcoob,” Liam says in his best Shaggy impression. Zayn covers his mouth, not wanting Liam to know how much that comment made him smile.

The four talk for a little bit longer, but ultimately have to leave. As they all have quickly learned, in this (unofficial) business the only thing certain is that you have to keep it moving, or you will be sad you didn’t.

Waving their goodbyes to each other, Zayn, Liam, and Louis all drive away from Nick. They go back to their houses with smiles on their faces, knowing that once again a stolen artifact is back where it belongs.

***

The next day, Zayn wakes up to an email Louis sent to both him and Liam. It’s a link to an article, which Zayn clicks on.

**Ancient Egyptian scroll stolen from museum gallery**

YESTERDAY an Ancient Egyptian scroll, commonly known as one of the many “Books of the Dead”, was stolen from a museum gallery. The police have no known suspects. Whoever stole the scroll were likely professionals with knowledge of the museum security. We reached out to the museum owners for comment but they declined.

Zayn laughs to himself as he reads the article. _Sure_ , he thinks to himself. _We’re the thieves here. Never change, media. Never change._

He decides to do a three-way call with Liam and Louis, to laugh with them about the author’s dumbness.

“Hi Zayn,” Liam and Louis say at the same time. “Oh, and hi Liam-Louis.” All three giggle.

“I guess I owe you another soda,” Liam tells Louis. The two brunettes still do ‘jinx, you owe me a soda’ and take it very seriously, but whenever Liam is the one to jinx Louis it never ends well. At this point he just lets Louis be the one to jinx every single time.

“You got that right,” Louis responds. “So anyways, what’s up Zayn?”

“Just reading that ridiculous article you sent us.” Zayn shakes his head. “It’s amazing how _we’re_ the ones who are the thieves. Even though the museum curators are the ones who stole a whole bunch of Books of the Dead from various areas of Egypt, with no concern for the people still living there, who find them an important part of their culture.”

“I know,” Liam grumbles. “Imagine the uproar if citizens of Cairo came in and stole all possible copies of the Bible. It would not be taken lightly, I’ll tell you that.”

“Ooh, while we’re on this subject,” Louis replies. “I’ve found the next possible place of one of the Books! Zayn, got some time for some recon today?”

“Of course,” Zayn says easily.

“Fantastic! I will text you the addy. Talk to you all later.” All three boys hang up almost in sync, with Louis being first as he likes to be. Not even a minute after hanging up, Zayn receives a text from Louis with the address. He smiles, already excited to get started.

***

Zayn decides to start with the employee-only area, where all of the newest displays are kept. Nobody else is around and Louis has already disabled the alarms, so Zayn easily creeps in.

Before he can truly start looking for the Book though, he hears a bit of noise. He braces himself.

Slowly looking in the direction of the noise, he spots a very familiar uniform. He knows this uniform well. “A Fulwell 73 agent is in our midst, Louis,” Zayn whispers into his in-ear. “Call in Liam.”

“Got it,” Louis whispers back.

Fulwell 73 is an agency that Zayn, Liam, and Louis have dealt with on many separate occasions. Where the three boys want to rescue, Fulwell 73 wants to kidnap. Where the three boys want to return, Fulwell 73 wants to steal.

Zayn assumes the position, getting ready to keep the Fulwell 73 agent busy to the best of his ability until Liam shows up. “You’re a bit noisy for an agent, don’t you think?”

Instead of attacking though, the agent just giggles. Their face is covered so the only identifying thing Zayn can make out is their green eyes. “Yeah, you can definitely say that. Usually, I’m not the one who does this sort of thing; I’m more behind-the-scenes, but our go-to guy is unavailable so they thought they’d put me on.”

 _Aha,_ Zayn thinks. _So this is the type of agent who wants to pretend to be oblivious._ Well, Zayn can play that game too.

“What do you think you’re doing with the Book of the Dead?” he asks sternly.

“Ooh it’s quite cool,” they respond easily. “My agency had me design this tiny microchip so that I can track it for as long as necessary.”

“Drop the microchip!” Zayn demands, getting really close now. _Where the heck is Liam?_ he silently wonders. _He never takes this long._

“I will; on the Book. You see, Fulwell 73 is planning to use my technology to make sure they know when the Book is safe and can be taken back to Egypt.”

Zayn finds himself losing his anger and becoming confused instead. Why is the agent saying all this? The agent isn’t even taunting him either, or pulling the ‘you can’t stop me’ tone. They’re just… saying it. Do they realize they are enemies?

“They told you they were gonna take it back to Egypt? Why didn’t they just send you to take the Book itself and bring it to them?”

“Well, my boss said we should wait until it’s actually in the exhibit before we take it.” They shrug.

Zayn is super confused now. Since when does Fulwell 73 do anything good? Well, he decides, they don’t. In fact they actually pride themselves in not doing good. He also decides that this person has to be telling the truth, or at least has been brainwashed into thinking they are telling the truth; why else would they not be reacting to him at all? Why else would they not be going in to fight him, or at the very least, taunt him that there’s nothing he can do to stop their plan? That’s what Fulwell 73 does.

Before he can think about it any further though, Liam finally shows up and attacks, taking the microchip right out of the agent’s hands.

“Oh I see,” the agent comments while being ‘handled’ by Liam. _Now_ they’re starting to sound like they’re in fight mode. “You’re trying to foil our plans and sell the Book for a profit. You won’t get away with it, mates.”

Liam takes Zayn out of the room along with the Book and rushes them both to Louis’ car. The rest of the night Zayn is left wondering about that mystery agent though, and how they seemed the complete opposite of the organization they work for; almost as if they don’t even know what the organization they work for actually does.

***

Zayn decides not to tell Liam or Louis about his conversation with the mystery agent. He already knows how they’d react anyway. They’d tell him not to let his guard down for a second, that he can’t trust anyone in this business (especially not a Fulwell 73 agent), and that this person probably lied to cover themselves.

And, well, Zayn wouldn’t be able to blame them. Because it’s true; you _can’t_ let your guard for a second, you _can’t_ trust people in this business. However, if they had just been in the room, if they had just stood there and talked to this person… He finds it hard to believe that they, too, wouldn’t automatically believe the agent was telling the truth.

Today Zayn, Liam, and Louis are all taking a short break from finding the Books. Even superheroes have to rest sometimes, after all.

Zayn silently giggles at his own joke as he waits in line at his local café. When it’s his turn the cashier – Normani – asks if he wants his usual large coffee with no room for cream, and he says yes.

As he looks around for a place to sit, he instantly recognizes someone. The mystery agent from last night. He’s not sure how, but he just knows it’s them. Maybe because of those unmistakable eyes, as green as emeralds.

Taking a very small sip of his coffee, Zayn very quickly weighs out the pros and cons of going over there and talking to the mystery agent. And even though, logically speaking, the cons probably outweigh the pros, he ultimately decides that he wants to find out what this person is like off duty. So he goes for it.

“Hi,” he says as he sits down.

“Oh, were you sitting here? I can move…”

“No, not at all,” he responds. “Just here by myself and thought I’d come chat. I can leave if you’re busy with something though…” He motions to the laptop.

“Oh, no, it’s alright.” Mystery agent smiles and holds out a hand. “Hi, I’m Harry, he/him.”

“I’m Zayn, also he/him.” He shakes Harry’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Harry replies giddily. He goes back to typing on his laptop, taking in-between sips of his coffee, which appears to be more creamer than actual coffee. Zayn tries to swallow his judgment along with another gulp of his own coffee.

Apparently, Zayn ends up staring too much without realizing it, because Harry looks up from his laptop with a bit of confusion. “What? Is there something on my face?”

Logically Zayn knows what he’s about to say is bad, but in that moment it feels like the right thing to say to figure out what Mr. Harry’s personality is really like. “No, no, no. It’s just… you look familiar. Do you go to a lot of museums?”

Harry blinks a few times, raising an eyebrow. “Uh… no? I’m not the person you’re thinking of, I’m afraid. Sorry…” Zayn drains his mug and is about to speak again, but Harry beats him to it. “Wait. It’s you.”

“It’s me?” Zayn asks, making sure this is going the way he’s thinking.

“Yeah, you! The one who took the Book from me! And your buddy destroyed my microchip!” He whisper-yells this. Probably a good idea; normal people don’t usually know about stuff like that. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize those eyelashes of yours sooner!”

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult, really.” Zayn smirks.

Harry’s face turns from anger back to confusion. “Wait a minute, if you knew who I was, why did you come sit with me? Aren’t we supposed to, like, be enemies?”

Zayn shrugs. “If you want us to be I can leave, but I don’t really want us to be.”

“And why’s that?” Harry challenges, taking a big sip of his drink.

“Because I appreciated your honesty and open-mindedness,” Zayn says simply. “When we first met in the museum, you weren’t afraid of me. You didn’t want to fight me. You wanted to make a difference, just like I want to do.”

“Well… Thank you,” Harry responds, covering his cheeks. Then, he quickly shakes his head. “Wait, how do I know this isn’t just a trap to get information out of me?”

“How can I prove to you it isn’t?” Zayn asks honestly.

“Hmm…” Harry thinks about this for a moment. “Show me your workspace!”

Zayn figured that would be his response, but part of him was really hoping it wouldn’t be. Louis and Liam aren’t going to like this at all, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

“Alright, let’s go,” he says to Harry, throwing his cup away on their way out.

***

The two boys pull up to an old warehouse. From the outside, you would never expect that inside the basement of this place three University-age men are holding a bunch of advanced technology and various plans to help save the world little by little.

That’s exactly what’s there though, and as Zayn leads Harry down to the basement, he already knows that the security cameras Louis installed are catching his every move. He mentally prepares himself for when Liam and Louis see this footage, praying to Allah they don’t take him off the team because of this.

“Woah,” Harry exhales, immediately going towards the tech station in the middle of the room. He gives it a big hug. “This is so elaborate, oh my gosh. Five screens, all touch, everything is so updated. I’m in love.”

Zayn giggles. “That’s what Louis said when his friend Nick brought it in a few weeks ago.”

“This is amazing, Zayn,” Harry says.

Zayn’s heart thumps for a single moment before he remembers that, oh yeah, he told Harry his name back in the café. He smiles, finding Harry’s nerdiness very similar to Louis’.

“Soooo,” Zayn tests now. “Are we like, friends now?”

Harry giggles. “I guess we kind of are. But like, maybe it’s best if we don’t tell anybody we work with about it. They might not understand.”

Zayn swallows to stop himself from telling Harry about the hidden cameras. “Definitely. Can I have your phone number?”

“Of course.”

The two of them exchange phone numbers and then Zayn takes Harry back home. They hug each other and promise to hang out again soon.

After getting back to his own house, Zayn waits patiently for the inevitable call from Louis.

***  
“WHAT THE F*** ZAYN?!”

“Hi Louis,” Zayn responds into the phone fake-nicely. “Nice to hear from you, too.”

“Don’t even play games with me right now, Zayn,” Louis hisses. “How dare you let a stranger into our hideout! Have you lost your brains?!”

“Lou, I’m telling you mate, he’s not like the others that work for Fulwell 73. When I met him in the museum he didn’t want to destroy me, he wasn’t even scared of me. He just wanted to make a difference, just like we do. And then today when the two of us met at the café-”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Louis interrupts. “You invited a Fulwell 73 agent into our lab, and not only that, but you had coffee with this tool?! How long has this been going on?”

Zayn rubs his temples. “Listen, he didn’t even know who I was at first. I saw him at the café after I got my coffee and I sat down to see if my guess about him being a good person was right. It was.”

Louis laughs without an ounce of humor. “Well, if he was a nice person out in public with other people watching, then it must be true! Must not be an act at all!”

“Listen Louis, I don’t expect you to understand-”

“Oh I understand perfectly alright. You like him.”

“Like him?” Zayn repeats. “I barely even know him!”

“And yet even though you barely know him, you still trusted him enough to take him to our secret hideout where all of our plans and all of our technology is.” Louis continues chuckling humorlessly.

“Louis, listen to me-”

“No, you listen to me,” he commands. “We have been doing this since you were sixteen, Zayn. Sixteen. And not once has a Fulwell 73 agent _ever_ been trustworthy. They _always_ have a secret plan to destroy a greenspace, take over a city, steal important documents, and wreak other havoc. Always. And I thought you knew that – I thought we all knew that. But evidently I was wrong.”

Zayn gulps. “So what are you saying? I’m off the team?” He really, really hopes that’s not the case, but when Louis gets this angry at someone he knows it never ends without tears.

“No,” Louis says. “But until I can be sure you aren’t leaking our secrets to this boy, Liam or I will be at the hideout at all times.”

“Okay, that’s fair. Uh… I’ll talk to you later Lou. Lou?” He gets no response though; only the dial tone. Sighing, he turns off his phone and opts to take a long nap. What the heck has he gotten himself into?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank Janee for coming up with the name of the villain in this chapter. :P

Zayn’s eyes slowly open to greet the bright sun shining outside his window, as well as the annoying sound of his phone going off with Louis’ ringtone. Licking his teeth, he still tastes some of the coffee he had at nine PM last night – which he knew was a bad idea at the time, but did it anyway.

He grumbles, feeling around his desk for the vibrating phone. “Hello?” he says into it.

Apparently Liam is on the line, too. “Zayn, why do you sound like you just woke up?”

Zayn scoffs, as if it’s a completely foreign idea that he could have possibly slept in this late. Especially after how late he stayed up, filled with the guilt of losing the trust of his best friends. “Um, that would probably be because I did.”

Liam breathes, sounding like he’s about to respond to that, but Louis cuts him off. “Well Zayn, I hope you’ve had enough rest to handle this mission.”

Zayn sits up quickly, already putting on his shoes. “What’s happening?”

“Remember that embezzlement case we’ve been working on?” Louis asks, sounding like he’s typing and talking at the same time. “About the person who has been stealing money from the Water charity?”

“Yes,” Zayn replies. Water.org is a charity that uses its donations to give clean water to people – especially children – who live in areas that don’t have access to it. A few months ago they realized that a lot of their donations were being stolen. One of the directors of the local chapter is a friend of Liam’s and let the three of them know what was going on.

“We have a new lead,” Liam says now.

“A new lead?” Zayn questions. “As in someone you want me to interview, or someone you want me to decommission?”

“The second one,” the other boys respond in unison.

“Alright,” Zayn nods. “Just send me the addy and I’m on it. Bye.” Zayn clicks the ‘end call’ button after that and waits for the text. Many people may see this action as Zayn being rude, but it’s just the way they operate. There’s no need to say anything else after that, and besides, time is money and it’s better if he gets going to the address now instead of later.

Not even a minute after hanging up, Louis sends him the address, and he’s off.

***

Zayn enters the building that corresponds to the address Louis sent him. Triple-checking to make sure he presses the right button, he uses the elevator to go up to the fourth floor.

It doesn’t take long before he spots the person in question – Ronald Stump. Acting fast, he changes from his black bodysuit into a fake Fulwell 73 agent suit.

At this point in his career, Zayn is a master of the walk and talk of Fulwell 73 agents, giving the people who he passes by the “s’up” nod as he makes his way over to the man in question.

“Hello, Mr. Stump,” Zayn starts.

He slowly turns around, confused. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Oh, your client, Mr. Spence, recommended you to me,” Zayn responds easily, remembering the name Louis told him to use. “I’m looking for a new banker and he told me I should talk to you.”

Ronald Stump smiles now, and it’s the ugliest smile Zayn has ever seen in his life. He tries his best to hold back his disgust. “You have definitely come to the right person. Come, let’s go downstairs to my office to discuss business.”

“Wonderful idea, sir.” The two of them go down the elevator together and Zayn clicks a button on his in-ear that sends a sound to Liam’s to let him know to be ready.

A few seconds after the two of them enter Mr. Stump’s office, Liam appears also in a fake Fulwell 73 outfit.

“Excuse me, young man,” Ronald Stump says to him. “I have important business to discuss with this gentleman next to me. Do you mind-?”

In one swift motion, Liam knocks him out and puts a bag over his head. “Don’t mind at all.”

“Sick job, Liam,” Zayn comments.

The two of them work together to carry him outside of the office and out the back door. They have to work a bit in order to get his body into the backseat of Louis’ car that arrives for them, but they make it work in the end.

When they get their victim into a secure location, they first make sure he can’t escape by tying him up against a chair. As soon as he wakes up, he looks around until his eyes land on the three of them.

He scoffs. “If you three really think you’re going to get any information out of me, you’re wasting your time. I have more money and powerful friends than any of you could ever hope to acquire in your pathetic lifetimes.”

“Oh, is that so?” Liam tests. “If you have so much money, why do you feel the need to steal the money Water is using to fund clean water for so many children across the globe and send it to your personal bank account?”

Mr. Stump cackles. “Is that what this is about? That dumb excuse for a charity? Sending perfectly good water to people who don’t deserve it and didn’t work hard to get it?”

“I’m sorry, did you just say there are people who don’t _deserve_ water?!” Louis yells. Liam and Zayn have to both hold him back from running over there and smacking Ronald in the balls (not that either of them would blame him if he did).

“Yes I did,” he answers simply, with a wide smirk. “Those ungrateful little c*l***ds should feel lucky they are even on this Earth, forget about clean water.”

“Ooh, I’m gonna slap you so hard that you-”

“Louis!” Liam warns, even though all three of them are thinking the same thing.

“Yeah, that’s right, kid,” Ronald replies, under the false assumption that he has somehow won this. “You don’t want to mess with this. Besides, what does it even matter that I stole from them? Nobody is going to believe you. I’m the one with the reputation and the money. No charity in the world has enough supporters to hurt me.”

“Oh, on the contrary sir,” Zayn is the one to speak now. “All of this is just a formality.”

Funnily enough, that statement does, in fact, leave Ronald stumped. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” Zayn winks and with that, the three of them exit the main entrance, leaving him completely and utterly confused.

Once they are out of Ronald’s line of vision, Louis dials 911. “Hello,” he says with the help of a voice distorter. “I have the proof the IRS has been searching for to convict Ronald Stump. He is waiting for you at a warehouse on Anne Street with a tape that has proof of his crimes.”

After giving the police the exact address, the three of them sit and wait, hiding on the roof of a nearby apartment building where nobody can see them, but they can see everybody who enters their premises. Several minutes pass, but finally the police arrive.

It doesn’t take long before they see him being taken out of the warehouse dressed in a fresh pair of handcuffs.

“Ronald Stump,” one of the officers tells him. “You have the right to remain silent-”

“You people are wasting your time!” he yells furiously, his face turning as red as Ariel’s hair in The Little Mermaid. “You don’t have anything on me!”

Zayn laughs at that. _Yeah, they only have that tape in their hands where you admitted out loud to your crime. Seriously, did he even go to school?_

“You have the right to remain silent!” the officer says again, with more force. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

***

That night, the three boys go out to the local pub to celebrate. Katy Perry is singing “swish, swish, another one in the basket,” as the three of them laugh for the millionth time at Ronald Stump’s face when the police took him away.

“I tell you, lad,” Louis says as he wraps a hand around Zayn’s shoulder. “No matter how many times we bring a criminal to justice, the feeling never truly gets old.”

Zayn had a glass of wine himself, but he still kind of feels like the sober friend dealing with his drunk friends who have had way more than him. “Totally,” Zayn agrees. “There’s nothing I love more than metaphorically slapping the smug look off of a jerk’s face.”

“What do you mean ‘metaphorically’? I love _literally_ slapping it off their faces, too.” He’s wobbling slightly, but Zayn is there to steady him.

Zayn giggles at Louis’ statement. “I know you do.”

“Wait, speaking of muscles, where did Payno go?” Louis asks, looking back and forth. Zayn decides not to tell him that neither of them said the word muscles.

“Umm…” Zayn starts looking around himself. “I’m not sure, actually…” Before he can get up and look harder though, he hears a voice come from the Open Mic stage.

“Hello Club Kiwi!” It’s Liam’s voice. “You’re rocking with DJ Payno! I’d like to dedicate this song to my bros Louis and Zayn!” The sober people in the audience grumble at him calling himself ‘DJ Payno,’ but Zayn just laughs endearingly.

“Zayn! I found Liam!” Louis calls, pointing to the stage.

Zayn giggles again. “Wow, good job, bro. I was beginning to get worried.”

“We are the champions, my friends,” Liam starts singing into the microphone, attempting eye contact with Zayn and Louis, who are bopping in their seats. “And we’ll keep on fighting till the end.”

In his drunken state, Liam exaggerates the high notes even more than he would if he was sober – which is saying something; Liam is (in)famous amoung his friends for doing everything he can to show off his vocal power at every moment possible.

Try as he might, Zayn can’t stop his thoughts from going to Harry. It’s hard, almost impossible in fact, for him to believe the nerdy boy he had coffee with and shared his hideout with a few days ago, belongs to the same company as the jerk they busted last night for stealing money from a charity and felt no shame about it at all.

He needs Liam and Louis to meet Harry, needs them to see that he is not anything like that dude. That he’s completely different from anybody in that company they’ve ever dealt with. He needs them to see that Harry is someone they can trust. He decides what he needs is for the four of them to all get in the same room together. He’s not sure how, he’s not sure where, but he will figure it out. He has to.

***

The next day, Harry calls Zayn. Zayn gets really excited upon seeing his number on the screen. “Hey mate, what’s up? It’s been a while.”

“Hi, Zayn,” Harry responds. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Been working a lot.”

“I know how that goes,” Zayn laughs. “So, what’s up?”

“Well, I’m done with work for the day so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight.”

“I would love to,” Zayn replies immediately. “Do you have any ideas in mind?”

Harry pauses for a moment. “Not really, I was hoping you did.”

Zayn snorts, but then starts to think. As he’s thinking about it he finds his thoughts going back to last night with Liam and Louis. Then he gets the perfect idea. “Well, since I showed you my workspace, why don’t you show me your homespace?”

“My homespace?” Harry giggles.

“Yeah you know, the place you live in-”

“I know what you meant, Zayn,” he giggles again. “‘Homespace’ is just a pretty dorky name, is all.”

“Heeey,” Zayn extends, fake offended. The two of them laugh together again. “Yeah, you’re right it kind of is. Does that sound like a plan?”

“Yeah, sure, I think that’s a fair trade,” Harry says. “I will text you the addy and be waiting for you.”

“Cool. See you soon.”

“See you soon.”

Zayn thought about having Harry show him his workspace (a workspace for a workspace, as the saying goes), but decided against it. Louis and Liam are right; people like Ronald Stump make up the majority of the company, people like Harry are one in a million. But Zayn also knows that by showing him his house, Harry is still showing him something really personal to him. Something that shows traces of who he is; something that is extremely important to him. And if they couldn’t trust each other, he definitely wouldn’t have said yes right then and there. Zayn hopes that by going to Harry’s house, this will give him the proof he needs to convince Liam and Louis that Harry is worthy of their trust.

Driving up to the building Harry gave him the address to, the first thing Zayn notices is that it’s a cabin. Definitely not the kind of house he expected a professional technician, working full-time for Fulwell 73, to live in. He parks in the driveway and knocks on the door.

The person who answers the door is definitely not Harry though. It’s someone blonder and a bit paler. “Can I help you?”

“Uh… Is Harry here?” Zayn asks.

The blonde looks a bit pensive, as if not sure of Zayn’s intentions. That’s fair, Zayn thinks. Before he can get a response to his question, Harry arrives at the door, practically running to give him a hug. “Zayn!”

Zayn collapses into giggles, attempting to hug Harry back to the best of his ability. “It’s good to see you too, Harry.” Zayn isn’t sure why Harry always turns him into a laughing machine, but he loves it. In all the seriousness of how split their two companies are, it’s nice that the two of them can not worry about that stuff and simply have a laugh with each other.

“This is my roommate, Niall,” Harry tells him, motioning to the blonde. “Niall, this is Zayn. Remember I was telling you about him?”

“Yeah…” Niall replies awkwardly. “You didn’t say he was coming over today…” They're avoiding eye contact with Zayn. Clearly, Harry’s friends feel the same way about Zayn that Zayn’s friends feel about Harry.

“I told you just nine minutes ago when you were eating your chicken,” Harry says, his arms still around Zayn’s shoulders.

“Harry, you know darn well I don’t pay attention to anything you say when I’m eating chicken,” Niall states simply.

Not having a response to that, Harry shrugs and finally removes his hands from Zayn. “Come on, I wanna show you my room!” He pulls Zayn into the house. Zayn finds how excited Harry is about this extremely adorable -- like a little kid who can’t wait to show off the painting he made in school today.

Just like the rest of the house, Harry’s room is very small. There’s a bed, a bookshelf, a poster of the Rolling Stones, and a cabinet that Zayn assumes holds all his clothes. On top of that cabinet are printed pictures of Harry and what appears to be his family - how retro.

“Who is this?” Zayn asks, pointing at a person in the picture that looks older than Harry, but younger than his parents.

“Oh, that’s my sister, Gemma,” Harry smiles. “She’s a professional photographer. She used her camera to take that picture of us before she moved away, making a copy for each of us.” His smile turns slightly sad. He must miss her a lot. Zayn can definitely understand; he misses his three sisters, too.

Zayn tries to think of something else to talk about to take Harry’s mind off missing his sister. “So… Your house.” Harry’s brows go up, clearly not sure where this is going. “How is it that a guy who works for one of the biggest agencies in the UK ends up in a place so, so…”

“Minimalistic?” Harry offers.

“Yeah,” Zayn agrees. “Minimalistic. That’s a good word for it.” He walks over to Harry’s bed and sits down next to him. There’s no space between the bed and the floor, so neither of them have to worry about breaking it with their combined weight.

Harry shrugs. “Niall and I have been friends since we met in Uni. When we both got accepted for the same job, we thought ‘hey, we should buy a house together.’ As post-Uni kids, we didn’t exactly have the best pay in hand, so we got what we could. And yeah, we probably have more than enough to move now, but there’s something about this place that is just so entrancing. Especially all the incredible views you get as the seasons change.”

Zayn nods. Just looking out of the window from where he’s sitting, he can see the trees dancing in the light wind, and the sun shining down bright with the clouds behind it. He bets if he walked over there, the view would be even more breathtaking. They must get the most amazing sunsets and sunrises out here.

The two of them sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching the clouds pass by. It doesn’t feel awkward at all. That is, until Zayn’s tummy lets out a grumble loud enough to break the sound barrier. Then, it gets very awkward for him. Not as much for Harry, evidently, who instantly cracks up laughing, bringing a blush to Zayn’s cheeks.

“Well, we definitely have to fix that,” Harry says. “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen.” The two of them stand up. “I used to be a baker so I have quite a few skills.” Zayn chuckles at that, but follows him anyway, preparing to be amazed.

Zayn watches as Harry dips into multiple mediums to set up his craft – from the refrigerator, to the freezer, to the miscellaneous cabinets – and places them all on the counter. Butter, flour, milk, eggs, bananas, salt, and baking powder.

Zayn looks at all of these ingredients, then at his watch. “Are you making pancakes? It’s like six PM, mate…”

Harry glares at him. “Zayn, don’t be a party pooper. Haven’t you ever had breakfast for dinner?”

“Nah, not really,” Zayn says, even though he has. He wants this banter to continue. “My mum always said that breakfast was for breakfast, not any other meal.”

“Well then, I feel sorry for you,” Harry tells him, setting up a pot on the stove. “I’ll just have to make pancakes so amazing that you’ll never want anything other than them for dinner ever again.” Zayn shakes his head with a smile. What a nerd.

Before putting anything in the pot, Harry takes a separate bowl and uses it to mix all the ingredients together to make perfect pancakes. Something is missing, though. “Umm… I may not have been a part time baker like you, but aren’t you supposed to, like, put sugar in them to make them taste sweet?”

“We’re out of sugar,” Harry says simply, eyes still on his craft. “Besides, the bananas should have enough natural sugar in them to even it out.” Zayn raises an eyebrow, not so sure about that, but he’s hungry and will probably eat anything at this point.

After making sure it’s all evenly mixed in, Harry turns on the stove and starts putting the mix in the pot. Zayn kind of loses focus during all of it because the only time he bakes food is pasta, which takes far less time than this.

Eventually though, Harry turns off the stove and says, “they’re done!” in an ecstatic tone, getting out two plates. He flips one pancake onto Zayn’s plate and another onto his own. Zayn doesn’t waste time; not having enough patience to wait for a fork, he uses his hands to take a big bite.

Immediately after doing so, however, he finds himself choking. And no, it’s not because he took too big of a bite, thank you very much, mother. It’s because the pancake is, is… Well quite frankly, it’s awful. One of the worst things Zayn has ever tasted. He’s trying his best to be discreet about it but wow, this stuff is foul.

What was Harry thinking? “The bananas should have enough natural sugar in them to even it out,” his butt. What is a pancake without actual sugar in it?

Just as he’s about to make up a fake story about having to pee, he sees Harry take a bite out of the pancake and have the same disgusted reaction. “Oh my gosh,” he says while chewing. “Oh my gosh, that’s terrible.” He goes towards the sink and spits it out, then chugs two glasses of water. He offers Zayn a glass of his own, too.

After cleaning his mouth, Harry giggles. “Well, I think we learned an important lesson here.”

“Never believe Harry when he tells you he has good baking experience?” Zayn offers, refilling his water glass.

Harry glares. “I was going to say never make pancakes without sugar…”

“Which someone who actually has good baking experience would have known, unlike you,” Zayn shrugs, starting to chug down more water. Harry walks up to him and tips the glass so that the rest of the water goes down Zayn’s shirt. “Hey!”

“That’s what you get,” Harry smirks, satisfied.

Too easy. “What, you mean the pancakes weren’t already enough of a punishment?”

That’s all it takes for Harry to move the glass to the counter and tickle attack Zayn. Zayn tries to tickle back, but Harry is not nearly as ticklish as he is and Harry easily wins that battle, tickling Zayn to death until he begs for Harry to stop.

“Not until you promise to never insult my baking again,” Harry commands.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Zayn responds, still overcome with giggles. “I won’t.” He pauses. “Well, except for those pancakes because those were bad.”

“That’s fair,” Harry agrees, removing his hands from Zayn’s shoulders and armpits. “So, what now? You wanna go get a pizza?”

“Sure. Plain cheese for me.”

“Sounds doable.” Harry is already typing a number in his phone as they speak.

***

After leaving Harry’s house, the two of them made a plan to meet up again sometime soon. “Preferably when my roomie is feeling more social,” Harry said, laughing.

Zayn had just bit his lip and laughed as well. What he didn’t say is that he doubts Niall will ever come around to him, because he also doubts his own friends will ever come around to Harry. Why should he expect any different treatment from Harry’s friends?

Right now Zayn is just chilling in his house, looking through the selfies he and Harry took yesterday. He smiles at each of them and how ridiculous they are in some of these. He gets interrupted by a knock on the door.

Putting his phone in his pocket, Zayn gets up and walks over to look through the peephole. After doing so, he opens the door. “Hey Louis. What’s up? I thought we weren’t doing anything today.”

“Do we have to be ‘doing something’ for me to come over and talk to you?” Louis asks honestly. Zayn feels a bit guilty then because, of course, they don’t have to. Zayn wordlessly points to the couch, too afraid to talk and accidentally say something else messed up. Louis gladly accepts, sitting down on the couch and leaving a spot next to him for Zayn. “So… Did you have a fun day yesterday?”

Zayn has always been amazed at how Louis is able to know exactly what is on Zayn’s mind, whether good or bad. He sits down next to him, not completely sure where this conversation is going to go. It’s probably going to be another intervention about his friendship with Harry and how ‘dangerous’ it is.

Still, Zayn decides to put away his assumptions and just answer his friend’s simple question. “Definitely. I had some yummy pizza and played some cool games…”

Louis nods. “Right. With Harry I assume?”

“Are you saying I don’t have that many friends?” Zayn laughs awkwardly, but at the seriousness in Louis’ face he stops. He murmurs an almost inaudible “Yes.”

“Zayn,” Louis says, words as hard as stones. “Are you one hundred percent there’s nothing… off about him?”

“This again?” Zayn questions, even though he knew it was, in fact, going to be this again.

“Yes, this again. And you know why?” Louis takes Zayn’s face in his hands and holds eye contact. “Because I care about you, I care about your happiness, and I don’t want you to be hurt. This isn’t about some rivalry, this is about you and your feelings.”

As weird as it is, Zayn starts smiling. For how much all of them may get at each other’s throats at times, they really do care about each other. “I promise, Lou,” he says. “Yesterday I was in his house and nothing seemed suspicious about it at all. Well, other than the fact that he said he was a baker and then made pancakes without sugar. Now, that was pretty suspicious.”

The two of them collapse on each other in giggles. “Well,” Louis replies with a smile on his face. “If that’s the only suspicious thing we have to worry about, then I guess me and Liam will just have to meet this Harry person and see for ourselves.”

Zayn’s eyes light up. “Are you serious?” It sounds way too good to be true, there must be a catch here.

“Yeah,” Louis promises, putting up his pinkie like the little kid he still is inside. Zayn wraps his pinkie around Louis’. “But we’ll have to go to IHOP or something so he doesn’t try to cook for us.”

Zayn laughs. He can’t wait to tell Harry that he’s made two people hate his cooking without even trying it. It will probably end up with him starting another tickle fight the next time they see each other.

***

Allah must be working a miracle in his life, because Zayn is sitting in Harry’s house with Liam, Louis, and Niall. Yes, it’s true. All five of them are in Harry’s house together and not fighting at all. Now, he wouldn’t say they’re all ‘excited’ to see each other either, but the fact that they’re not fighting is already something worthy of celebration.

Harry, for his part, acts forcefully oblivious. There’s no way he doesn’t see how awkward the other three feel, but he chooses to ignore it like a good party host. “Do you all want to play a video game? I’ve got pretty much every Mario game imaginable, as well as some more modern games like Dragon Age.”

“Hold up, Harold,” Niall speaks now. “Are you saying Mario isn’t modern? Mario is for every generation!” Zayn smirks. Sounds like a challenge is ensuing.

“No, of course not, Niall, I just meant that-”

“Yeah, he’s right!” Louis agrees. “What are you talking about Mario isn’t modern?”

“I’m a ‘they,’” Niall murmurs.

“What?” Louis asks.

“I’m a ‘they,’” Niall says louder. “Not a ‘he.’”

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Louis apologizes profusely. “I shouldn’t have assumed…”

Niall recoils, like the walls are caving in on them. “Thank you for apologizing.” Zayn wishes he could reach out a hand to comfort them, but that would just make it worse honestly.

“So,” Liam tries now. “Is that you two’s nerdy way of saying you want to play a Mario game?”

“Oh right,” Louis teases. “Like you’re not every bit as nerdy as the rest of us. Please.”

Niall starts laughing loudly, catching all of them off guard. “‘Like you’re not every bit as nerdy as the rest of us,’” they repeat, laughing some more. Their laughter is contagious because soon after Zayn, Liam, Louis, and Harry all find themselves laughing as well.

It’s weird, but somehow that’s all it takes for the five of them to come to a mutual understanding. He still isn't sure they're going to get Niall, Liam, and Louis’ full approval but they're at least coming to terms with their friendship and have seemingly put any plans to end it behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

After that day, Zayn is on a bit of a weird cloud. Even though his job is just as demanding as it has always been, it makes him feel good his other friends are no longer trying to stop him and Harry from being friends – and, maybe Zayn is getting ahead of himself, but it seems like the others might be on their way to becoming friends themselves.

For example, just last night Louis asked Zayn if he was going over to Harry’s house and seemed weirdly disappointed when he said no. Almost as if Louis was hoping to come along if he was.

Today, Zayn is with Harry again, a fact he carefully hid from Louis and Liam. He told them that he was going out; that wasn’t a lie. He just didn’t say where or why, and left before they could ask. Which was probably rude, but as soon as he entered the restaurant and saw Harry dressed in a pink top, black pants, and smiling at him, he stopped thinking about it.

“Wow, you look… uh… I mean I feel underdressed majorly,” Zayn says awkwardly.

Harry laughs. “I have a normal outfit in the car if you want me to change.”

“No, of course not,” Zayn responds, not questioning for a second the fact he has a back-up outfit in his car. “You look… Yeah, good.”

More laughter from Harry. “Well, thank you. So, where do you wanna sit? Upstairs or downstairs?”

What a gentleman. “Uh… I’m feeling upstairs tonight.”

“Sounds good.” Harry gives a thumbs up and the two of them walk up the stairs, getting a seat reasonably close to one of the windows.

While waiting for their waiter to arrive, the two of them talk about how their day has been going.

“So, earlier today, my parents called me,” Harry announces with a smile. “They said that they – along with my sister Gemma – are driving over sometime soon to see and have dinner with me.”

Zayn grins himself, able to see just from Harry’s face alone how exciting this is. “That’s great!”

“Yeah, and they asked me to bring a guest so they could see what kind of friends I’ve made since moving down here.” Zayn nods, not sure about the logic there but listening intently all the same. “And so I was kind of wondering if you would want to go with me?”

Zayn chokes on his own spit. “Me? Why? What about Niall?”

“They already know Niall,” Harry tells him. “Besides, I feel like you’d really like them.”

Just as Zayn’s about to answer that though, the waiter comes over and asks what they want to drink. Zayn orders a coffee and earns a side-eye from Harry.

“What is it with you and your coffee?” Harry asks after the waiter is gone, as if the two of them didn’t formally meet in a coffee shop. “I mean, jeez it’s like dinner time. Don’t you have to start winding down?”

Zayn just shrugs. “I never know when Liam and Louis are gonna need me. Besides, if they don’t need me I’m gonna stay up watching a marathon of Scooby Doo.”

Harry cracks up. “A marathon of Scooby Doo? Wow, you are a true geek. It’s impressive.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment?” Zayn questions, although he is pretty sure it was meant as one based on Harry’s massive video game collection.

A few minutes later, their drinks arrive. Thanking their waiter, they order a two-person fajita platter. The waiter lists the toppings that come with it on the side to make sure all of those are okay with them. They tell them they are, and the waiter goes off to put in their order.

“So,” Zayn says as he takes a taste of his coffee. No restaurant-bought coffee is ever as good as the coffee served at Normani’s cafe, but it’s not terrible either. “What are your parents like?” A pretty broad question, admittedly, but it’s the first thing he thinks of.

Harry laughs slightly, no doubt thinking the same thing. “They’re amazing, honestly. Like, they have always supported me since the very beginning. Fulwell 73 isn’t an easy agency to get into, but my dad was able to schedule me an interview. Thank goodness he told me in advance though because otherwise I think I would have panicked.” He laughs awkwardly. “But yeah, my parents are very big parts of my life; they help me in almost every decision I make. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

Zayn smiles because it very much reminds him of his relationship with his parents. “So, your dad got you into Fulwell 73?”

Harry swallows, playing with his lips. “No, because that implies I didn’t have to do an interview or background check or anything before I got in, which I did. He just granted me an interview. He’s very close with my boss.”

Zayn nods; he can feel the elephant in the room growing bigger, but he refuses to acknowledge it. He knows he will have to sooner or later, but why rush the process? He’s not going to ruin the beginning of a really good friendship with Harry by bringing up the fact that the company he works for is trash. Especially now that he knows how close his family is to the boss behind it. It would be too heartbreaking for him.

“So, what about yours?” Harry asks, a welcome interruption to Zayn’s thoughts.

Zayn raises an eyebrow. “What about my what?”

“Your family, silly,” Harry specifies. Zayn’s heart flutters, probably because he gets excited talking about his family. “What are they like?”

“Well, my parents are also pretty amazing,” Zayn starts, grinning as he imagines their faces. “They made sure my sisters and I always knew we had someone to talk to about anything and everything. I can’t say they were all that approving when they found out I planned to skip on Uni to be a do-gooder unattached to any organization, but once they saw the differences me, Liam, and Louis were making, they lightened up.”

Harry smiles at him, and that smile sends a jolt to Zayn’s heart. He decides to ignore that, though. “That’s so cool. You know, you hear a lot of sad stories about parents who are absolutely horrible to their children, and it’s such a warm feeling knowing that you were one of the lucky ones and got gifted with some of the best parents of all time.”

Zayn couldn’t have said it better himself.

***

That night Zayn goes home and sighs as he lays down on the couch in his living room. Just as he’s about to close his eyes though, a voice is suddenly yelling at him. “I knew it!”

Zayn screams for a single second as he turns around and sees Louis and Liam sitting in a chair across from him.

“Liam, Louis?! What - What the heck are you guys doing here this late?!” Zayn demands, quite frankly annoyed that his friends snuck into his house without his permission.

“Nevermind that,” Louis demands. “I knew you were sprung, but this is a whole other level.”

“What are you talking about?” Zayn is so confused. What is Louis even saying? And can whatever it is wait until tomorrow, and not tonight after he had such a good time with Harry?

“Oh, I’m not doing anything tonight, Louis,” he mocks in his best Zayn impression. “Oh, I won’t tell you what restaurant I’m going to, Liam. Even though you two are my best friends, I refuse to tell you anything!”

Zayn grumbles, a headache forming. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going out with Harry. I was just afraid that you two would try to turn it into something it’s not and-”

“Is that so?” Liam is the one to speak now. “Or, are you afraid we’d turn it into something it is?” Zayn just stares at him, completely lost on where he’s going with this.

“You like him!” Louis says, and Zayn isn’t sure whether this tone is judgmental or just adolescent teasing. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. “You like him, you like him, you like him!”

Zayn’s cheeks start turning red. “No, I don’t…”

“Yes, you do. You wanted to be with him alone at a restaurant, without us, where you two probably talked about how the roses look in the spring or something like that.”

Zayn scoffs, but it falls flat and he has a hard time holding his ground. “Well? So what if I do? What is it you want from me?”

“To admit it, for one,” Louis responds, making a face like he accomplished that mission. Zayn rolls his eyes. “And for two, you can’t possibly date someone we haven’t vetted properly.”

Zayn’s heart starts beating quickly. Beating because he knows exactly what Louis means. For normal people, ‘vetting’ means that intimidating ‘you break her heart, I break your wrist’ talk best friends have with their friend’s new date. But for people in the business the three of them are in, it means something much more.

“Wait a second,” Zayn tries now, voice a bit shaky. “I thought you guys said it was cool for me to hang out with him. Why are you changing your minds now?”

“Because,” Liam says. “Believe it or not, we’re your friends. We care about you. And we don’t want you to be heartbroken if you find out later that his family has ties to villains.”

Zayn is sweating, and he hopes it isn’t noticeable. He knows better than to think that when they run a background check on Harry and his family they won’t find out about Harry’s dad and his friendship with Harry’s boss. He knows they will find that out, and he also knows how badly they will react when they do.

He bites his lips. “Alright, so be it. Tell me what you find.”

After the two brunettes leave his house, he once again collapses on the couch, absolutely exhausted from that conversation. Liking someone is so much more complicated than it seemed in Sarah Dessen novels.

***

A car pulls up in front of Zayn’s house; Zayn’s dog, Bradley, starts barking at the door. “Hey, hey, relax man,” he says, petting Bradley and making sure Bradley doesn’t get out the door as he carefully walks outside it.

As soon as he steps outside, the aroma of fresh grass reaching his nose, he instantly recognizes Harry’s car. Once he’s in hearing distance of it, Harry rolls down his window and says to Zayn, “You didn’t forget about me, did you?”

Zayn laughs, then returns Harry’s smirk. “Of course not. Couldn’t if I tried.” When he goes up to the window and sees Harry in a suit, he looks down awkwardly at his jeans and dress shirt and feels underdressed. “Uh… Should I like, change or something?”

Harry takes a good look at him up-and-down and shrugs. “Nah, you look fine. But if you have an extra tie, I’d put it on just in case, because restaurants like this sometimes won’t let you in if you don’t have one on.”

Zayn scoffs because that sounds like the most ridiculous rule he’s ever heard. However, he still obliges and goes back in to quickly put on a tie.

After putting it on, he returns outside, locking the door behind him this time. He almost always forgets to lock it; it’s kind of embarrassing, honestly.

Now, in Harry’s car, the two start heading to the restaurant. Zayn starts to put on his headphones and tries to start playing some tunes to help the ride go by quicker for him, but then thinks twice about it. “Harry, is it okay if I listen to my headphones on the way there?”

“That’s not necessary, Zayn,” he responds. “You can just plug your phone into this plug right here-” he motions to it “-and play the music from your phone out loud. I don’t mind.”

“But what if you don’t like the music I like?” Zayn asks, appreciating the gesture but still slightly worried.

Harry shrugs. “Try me, I’m open to most of anything. And even if I don’t like it, you like it and that’s what matters.”

Zayn tries to control his blush as he plugs his phone in. “Well, thank you.” He presses play on Superpower by Beyoncé and Frank Ocean, smiling and swaying to the music as it plays.

They listen to a few more tracks from that album before they pull into the restaurant and park next to Harry’s family’s cars. Zayn leaves his headphones in the car, feeling it would be rude to bring them into such an extravagant place with him.

The person at the entrance immediately lets Harry in without a second thought, but studies Zayn for a moment before letting him in. “He’s with me,” Harry says, and the person still looks like they’re thinking about booting him, but they let him go inside anyway.

Once inside, Zayn is absolutely blown away by the decorations; from the paintings on the wall to the priceless lanterns hanging from the ceiling. This place is beautiful. He tries not to look embarrassing while he stares at all of it.

Zayn’s obviously too mesmerized by the decorations for his own good because at first he doesn’t realize when they arrive at their table. He only realizes after Harry lightly taps him on the shoulder, and immediately blushes when he sees everyone looking at him expectantly.

Looking around the table, Zayn starts to feel a little self-conscious. Even though Harry said he looked fine, he’s the only one at this table who didn’t get super dressed up and he feels like they’re judging him, even if they don’t say it.

Clearing his throat, he decides his best bet is to at least say something. “Umm… Hi. I’m Zayn. I’m sorry, Harry didn’t tell me this was going to be such a formal event or I would have dressed nicer…”

“Oh, it’s okay honey,” one of Harry’s parents tells him. “Between you and me, I hate wearing these lousy high heels. Judging people on the way they dress is so nineteenth century.” She winks at him. That makes him giggle and feel relaxed enough to sit down at last. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Harry’s mother, Anne.” She stretches out her hand to shake his. “And this is my husband, Robin.”

“Nice to meet you, Robin,” Zayn says, extending his hand to Robin now, which he also shakes. Soon after Harry’s sister Gemma and her boyfriend Ashton introduce themselves, a waiter comes over to ask them what drinks they want.

Once they get their drinks the conversation truly starts flowing. “So, Zayn,” Robin starts. “How did you meet Harry?”

Zayn takes a too-long gulp of his drink. Of course that would be the first question they ask. He should’ve thought of a good cover story before coming here, but he didn’t, so he just awkwardly decides on, “At a museum.” It’s not a lie, after all.

“Ooh,” Gemma says teasingly. “How romantic.”

Zayn’s heart starts beating fast at that. “...What?” he and Harry ask at the same time.

“I just think it’s cute you two’s relationship started in a museum,” Gemma defends herself. “I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff.”

Zayn looks at Harry, whose cheeks are about as red as his feel right now. “No, no, no,” Zayn scrambles. “We didn’t start a ‘relationship’ in a museum, at least not the way you’re thinking…”

“Well sure, maybe you didn’t start dating then and there,” Gemma continues. “But you met there and now you can say ‘it all started in a museum.’” She sighs romantically. Zayn feels like his face is going to be burned off from how flushed his cheeks are right now. He turns his gaze towards his cup and focuses his eyes on the drink inside, too embarrassed to look at anybody at this table.

“Gemma please,” Robin speaks. “You’re embarrassing them.” Zayn says a mental ‘thank you’ to him for cutting that off. That is, until he continues with, “If they don’t want to talk about their relationship tonight, they don’t have to. That’s their business.”

After that, Gemma doesn’t say anything else and nobody prods him or Harry for anymore ‘information’. However, for the rest of the night Zayn still finds it hard to focus on anything else other than that.

Harry’s family are convinced that him and Zayn are dating. And the fact that this comes just one day after Liam and Louis grilled him about liking Harry only adds to it. Zayn had always thought it would be a compliment if people thought he was dating the person he liked, but this is just downright embarrassing.

Throughout the rest of the dinner, he starts questioning his every move; wondering if something about his body language led the family to believe they are dating, and if so, did Harry also pick up on that? Does Harry know Zayn likes him? He tries to keep an arm's distance at all times, not make more eye contact than necessary, and not say a single thing that could possibly be misconstrued as flirtatious. It’s annoying because he doesn’t like being so distant with his friend, but it’s better than Harry knowing he likes him. Right?

When it’s finally time to leave, Zayn is so relieved. He definitely needs to take a long, long rest after the night that was tonight. No amount of coffee could cure this mental exhaustion, he feels.

Putting on his best smile, he thanks Harry’s parents, Gemma, and Ashton for their hospitality, and starts heading towards the door. When he exits it, he lets out an exasperated sigh, glad to be out of there. That is, until he remembers Harry was his ride here.

Harry comes out right behind him and the two of them walk to the car in silence (which Zayn is thankful for). Once they sit down, Harry speaks. “I’m sorry about all of that. I never meant to put you into that uncomfortable situation.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault,” Zayn responds, not wanting Harry to feel guilty. “Parents will be parents, I know how it is.” He chuckles lightly.

“I know, but I still should have told them that we’re just friends,” Harry frowns, starting the car. “I just didn’t think I had to…” Zayn nods, his heartbeat still fast.

Zayn thinks once again about how obvious it has been to everybody now that he likes Harry. And if everybody already knows Zayn is smitten with Harry, maybe that’s the ammo he needs to tie a knot on it right here and now.

He tries to choose his words as carefully as he can, but he ultimately knows it’s pointless to beat around the bush. “Well, what do you think of the idea?”

“What idea?” Harry asks, pressing his brake as they reach a red light.

“Of us dating.”

Harry’s eyes open wide, and Zayn is glad they are at a red light because otherwise he imagines Harry might have slammed into someone – or the other way around – with how he’s staring at Zayn.

Zayn clicks his tongue, unbuckling his seatbelt. “I’ll just… walk home the rest of the way…”

“No, no, don’t do that,” Harry insists, reaching over with shaking hands to buckle him back up. “Zayn, what do you mean by that?” A car beeps behind them and Harry starts moving again, still waiting for Zayn’s response.

“You know,” Zayn continues, trying to appear chill on the outside even though his breathing is getting more and more shallow. “What do you think of the idea of us dating? Would it be too soon for me to ask that?”

Harry raises an eyebrow and has an unreadable expression on his face. Zayn can see his hands are still shaking on the wheel. “I think, I couldn’t imagine anybody on this earth not instantly seeing how amazing of a person you are.”

Zayn is pretty sure he’s going to have a heart attack after hearing that. All at once, he starts word-vomiting. “Really? Because I don’t want to force you to make a decision, or make you feel uncomfortable, and if you do feel uncomfortable I can just leave because my house is only a few minutes away. I know we’ve only known each other for a little while, and maybe you wanted to take things slower than this…”

Harry puts a finger to Zayn’s lips, and Zayn is glad because he’s very out of breath after that never-ending sentence. Harry laughs. “Zayn, it’s okay. I don’t feel forced to do anything. I like you. I mean it.”

Zayn smiles, blushing for a completely different reason than he was a few moments ago. “Well… I like you too.”

“I gathered as much,” Harry teases, looking at him for a split second to give him a wink.

After that, Zayn waits for the next red light and then brings Harry in for a light first kiss and says, “I guess your family really knows their stuff when it comes to romance.” He laughs awkwardly.

“Yeah,” Harry replies, smiling. “Don’t tell them that though, or they’ll get too cocky.” He winks again.

***

Ever since Zayn and Harry started officially dating, a new magical energy has come over Zayn. It carries him through everything; all the things that would normally annoy him, suddenly don’t bother him at all. All he has to do is think of Harry’s face and he’s happy.

“Okay, Zayn,” Louis says in his ear now. “There are only a few Books of The Dead to gather after this one.”

“Got it,” Zayn whispers back, assuming the position and watching for any intruders as he sneaks through the window – into a basement where it is said this one is kept.

As he’s going in to find it, he scoffs at his surroundings. _You have one of the most sacred books in history, and you put it in a f***ing basement?_ he thinks as he starts looking through boxes.

He hears a noise and starts mentally freaking out. “Louis,” he hisses to his in-ear. “I think somebody’s home.”

“What? That’s impossible. There were no cars in the driveway.”

He believes what Louis says, but he also definitely hears footsteps now. In one quick motion, he hides behind one of the boxes.

From behind his box, he watches as he sees a teenager come down from the stairs. Even though he should be worried, for some reason the fact that it’s a teenager and not an adult makes him feel a little bit more positive.

What he really isn’t prepared for is for the kid to notice him. Zayn doesn’t mean to brag too much or anything, but he is good at stealth. One of the best, he’d even wager to say. Still, the kid keeps walking towards him until finally they reach him.

“Are you one of Joselyn’s friends?” the teenager asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh…” Zayn is at a loss of any other stories to make up, so he decides to just go with it. “Yes, yes I am.”

“Man, zie always stinks about not telling zir friends the right time to show up,” they roll their eyes. “Well, feel free to sit down. I’m gonna make some more coffee so you can be at least somewhat entertained until zie gets here…”

Once they go upstairs, Zayn uses the opportunity to return to investigating various boxes. Just as he’s about to turn around to do just that though, he sees it out of the corner of his eye. “No f***ing way,” he mutters. He gets closer to the table on which it is set.

“What?” Louis asks. “What are they doing with it?”

“They’re using it as a f***ing-” before Zayn can finish that sentence though, the teenager returns and catches him holding the Book in his hands.

“What are you doing with that coaster?” they ask. “Put it down, I’ve got the coffee right here. I don’t know how you usually like yours so I brought some half-and-half.”

“Your family uses this as a coaster?!” Zayn demands, and realizes he should probably not be yelling at a kid, but he can’t believe his eyes and ears right now. “Do you not realize this is one of the Books Of The Dead, a holy book to the people of Egypt?”

“Is that why you’re here?” the teenager shrugs, taking a sip of their coffee. “You can take it if you want.”

“Wait… What? Are you serious?” Zayn wasn’t expecting that kind of response at all. Did he hear them correctly?

“Yeah, I don’t know why my dad is so adamant about keeping it.” They continue taking sips. “It’s not even in English or anything, what’s the point?”

Zayn could say something to that, but he’ll probably say it to Liam and Louis later on instead. The thief’s child just told him he could take it. He might as well do so before the parents come back home. So he just takes it and awkwardly says, “Uh… okay. Well, thanks I guess.”

“Wait, you’re not gonna drink any coffee?” the teenager asks, but Zayn is already out the window and trying to get back to home.

***

Zayn is feeling really good today. He saved one of the Books from the nasty hands of a nationalistic family without getting a single bruise on his body, he’s dating Harry, and right now he’s chilling with Liam and Louis by the pool. Everything is going grandly.

Liam is splashing him in an attempt to get him to come into the pool because it’s not as fun playing water-volleyball with only two people, but Zayn ignores him. Even though he spends weeks chasing bad guys and taking names, none of that is as scary to him as jumping into water.

He takes a sip of his sangria and turns a page in his magazine, hearing Liam sigh and give up on his attempts to get him in the water. Zayn smirks, both at Liam and at the comic he just read in the magazine.

All of a sudden, he hears Louis get what must be a million notifications in a row on his phone. “Uh, Louis, your phone is going off,” he calls. “Do you want me to check it?”

“No, that’s alright mate, I’m coming,” Louis says as he practically crushes Liam’s head with the volleyball over the net. He walks out of the pool, wrapping a towel around himself, and goes to his chair. After drying off his hands he wastes no time in turning on his phone to find out what is going on. Immediately, a gasp escapes his lips.

Zayn looks up from his magazine. “Louis, is something wrong?”

“This could be either really good or really bad,” Louis responds, still staring at his phone.

Zayn sits up, putting his magazine down. Liam has now also gotten out of the pool and come over to the table.

“There’s been a leak at Fulwell 73,” Louis continues, scrolling as he speaks. “The information leaked out is full details of all the locations of the remaining Books of the Dead, as well as how and when they planned to steal them…”

The three boys sit there for a few moments, thinking on this information. Even though it’s selfish, Zayn’s first thought is about Harry. He wonders if maybe this will be the proof he needs to show Harry that Fulwell 73 is using him and doesn’t actually care about doing good; maybe this will be a way to make Liam and Louis see for real that Harry is a good person, and this isn’t what he signed up for.

Liam brings him back to reality. “Well, what should we do?”

“Well, obviously we have to gather as much information as possible,” Louis says, thinking out loud. “Because if there’s been a leak at Fulwell 73, they definitely won’t take it lightly. We need to find out how they are planning to respond.”

“Yeah, and how do we do that?” Liam asks, looking like he’s searching his head for ideas as well.

The three boys start pacing around, trying to come up with something. Well, Zayn thinks. Louis could invent a tiny hidden camera and put it inside their offices when they’re not looking. But how would they do that? Security’s probably already being tightened up as they speak, or maybe they could-

“Zayn!” Louis startles Zayn out of his thoughts. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?” Zayn questions, wondering if Louis discovered how to read his thoughts somehow.

“You!” Louis replies as if that one word answers his question. When Louis can tell Zayn’s still confused, he continues. “You can ask Harry what is going on and see how his team is responding to this.”

“Are you asking me to _use_ Harry?” Zayn feels a fury start to rise in his chest as soon as he says that out loud.

Louis takes a second too long to respond, and it only adds more and more flames to Zayn’s fire the longer it takes. “Of course not, Zayn. I’m just saying that he would be honest with you because he trusts you and-”

Zayn laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “Right. You know, Louis, when we started this team so many years ago, I knew right off the bat there would be shadiness involved in it, but this is one line I refuse to cross. You will not make me betray my boyfriend like that.”

Before the two of them can respond, he makes his way inside the door of the house the pool is attached to, and then outside the house to his car. He drives away without looking back.

***

Feeling really stressed out and wanting somebody to talk to, Zayn finds himself going to Harry’s house. He doesn’t realize he’s doing it at first because he’s mentally on auto-pilot, but when he gets there he smiles immediately upon seeing the door. It’s amazing how just seeing the door to Harry’s house is enough to make him smile.

He parks the car and knocks on the door. “Coming!” Harry calls, and Zayn’s grin grows even wider as he hears Harry’s footsteps walk closer and closer to the door.

When Harry opens the door though, his face immediately falls. “Zayn…” He says, an angry tinge in his voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh… I was just a bit stressed today and thought I’d come see you so we could watch a movie or something…” He’s stumbling over his words, anxiety building inside his head. _Why is he so angry? Did Louis and Liam call him already? What did they say to him?_

“Oh really? _You’re_ stressed?” Harry questions. Before Zayn can blink, Harry starts yelling. “Well how do you think I feel?! I thought I could trust you Zayn. I thought even if we worked for different companies it would be okay. We would accept our differences and love each other, not betray each other.”

“Harry, what are you talking about?”

“ _What do you mean what am I talking about_?!” Harry demands.  Zayn takes a step back out of fear. “I should have listened to Niall from the start! They warned me you would just use me to get information – well, I didn’t want to believe it. ‘No, Zayn would never do that.’”

“Wait, you think _I’m_ the one who-”

“But they were right! They were right about you from the start! And I was dumb enough to fall for it!” Harry shakes his head. Zayn feels tears forming in his eyes. No, no, no. Harry can’t really believe he would do that, can he? “Here, take this f***ing book you left at my house last night and leave.” He throws the book on the floor and then slams the door.

For a moment Zayn just stares at the door, unable to comprehend what just happened. Harry thinks he was using him… Harry thinks he never meant any of it…

That’s all it takes for Zayn to immediately start crying – long and hard. His eyes and nose are absolutely covered in water. He can’t see anything. In this business, you have to have a strong backbone – you have to learn how to not cry all the time, otherwise you are seen as weak. But right now Zayn doesn’t care that he’s weak. He doesn’t care if anybody sees him. Because the person he truly loved thinks he betrayed him.


	4. Chapter 4

After Zayn finally picked himself up and drove back home from Harry’s place that day, Louis and Liam were already waiting in his house.

Before they could say anything – no doubt about his little spat at the pool earlier – Zayn immediately said, “Harry thinks I’m the reason the leak happened.”

Liam and Louis gasped. “Why would he think that?” Liam asked. “You would never lie to him…”

At those words Zayn started crying again, ashamed at how fragile he seemed to be all day that day. Liam and Louis formed a group hug around him and stayed at his house to do stuff to try and make him happy. Nothing worked, but Zayn appreciated their efforts.

It’s been a few days now and Zayn isn’t feeling any better. He’s with Liam and Louis again, in the lab. Since Fulwell 73’s plans for the Books were leaked, they’ve all been taking inventory of the people whose names were on the list.

Zayn is updating their logs when he looks up for just a split second at the cameras that show them if someone is outside. He does a double-take and realizes there’s somebody out there. Somebody familiar. “Niall?” he calls out loud, before he can stop it.

Liam and Louis have been more on edge about Fulwell 73 and their agents than usual – which is saying something – ever since what Zayn told them a few nights ago. While Zayn appreciates that they care so much about him, there are some moments – like right now – where he feels it’s a bit excessive.

“Niall?!” Louis sneers. “What is he – I mean they – doing here?”

“I’ll go outside to find out,” Zayn says. The two boys look at him like that’s the most absurd thing he’s ever said. When Zayn knows for a fact he’s said way more absurd things in front of them before.

“You will not!” Liam responds immediately. “I will not let you go out there to talk to that traitor by yourself!”

“Me neither,” Louis agrees.

Even after all he’s been through, Zayn still feels instantly like he has to defend Niall. Like he has to say ‘they are not a traitor.’ He doesn’t though because he knows even if he did say that, it wouldn’t change their viewpoints.

The three of them go outside together, Liam and Louis taking defensive positions. Zayn is a bit wary himself, but really doesn’t think force will be necessary. At least, he hopes not.

“Niall?” Zayn asks, getting their attention. “What are you doing here?”

“Zayn!” they say immediately, looking relieved. “Thank goodness! I really need to talk to you!”

“If you wanna talk to him, you’ll have to go through us first,” Liam tells them, glaring strongly. Zayn rolls his eyes, really feeling like the two of them are overdoing it now.

“Actually, I could use the two of you’s help as well,” Niall says, confusing all three boys. “Zayn, I know it wasn’t you who leaked out that Fulwell 73 info.” Liam and Louis are even more surprised by this statement, but they seem to also finally relax a bit.

“You do?” Zayn asks, because it sounds too good to be true.

“Yes,” Niall confirms. “I know you love Harry too much to do that to him.” They pause. “And also my theory is confirmed by the fact that you are standing here in front of me and Harry has been captured by whoever actually did do it.”

“Wait, wait, back up,” he responds. “Harry has been captured?”

They frown, looking down at their shoes. “He hasn’t been home in days now. And when he didn’t pick up my calls, I tried tracking his phone’s current location. But it’s… nowhere.”

“Okay,” Liam says, his expression and body language changing back to as defensive as it was before, only this time it’s not directed at Niall. “Looks like we’ve got some work to do then.”

“Yes,” Louis agrees, echoing Liam’s demeanor. “Niall, please come in and tell us everything you can about who could have been behind the leak.”

All four of them practically charge into the lab, ready to stay up all night if that’s what it takes to find out where Harry is being held.

***

Liam suggests Niall look up the last place Harry’s phone was, since the current location is no help. The location they find it at is some CBS-construction site.

“CBS construction?” Louis asks. “I’ve never heard of that company.”

“I think I have,” Niall says, contemplating. They take out their phone. “Let me see if I have anything about it in my notes…” Zayn giggles slightly at the fact that they take enough notes on their phone to possibly have something about a construction site on there. He wishes he was as organized as that.

“Well,” they continue. “The only thing I can find on here is that CBS construction is the company our boss tells the outside world he works for so they don’t know he works for Fulwell 73.” Immediately after finishing that sentence, they gasp. “No, it can’t be. Not Ben…”

“Yes, Niall,” Liam puts his hand on their shoulder. “It can be.”

The three boys and Niall waste no time in suiting up and packing all the essential devices they need. They all huddle into Louis’ car, and no, Louis has no time to pay attention to his speed, thank you very much. He’s got more important things to do.

When they arrive, there’s nothing but an empty lot; no building in sight. However, Zayn knows better than to think there aren’t traps hidden somewhere on the land. Louis is obviously on the same page as him, slowing down and making a complete stop a little bit before the lot.

“Come on,” Louis whispers, leading the four of them with a tool in his hands that helps him scan for any traps that will signal their arrival. The lights flicker red, blue, or yellow depending on what kind of material it finds.

Even though this is a serious situation and they have to stay focused, Zayn can’t help but notice how much fun Louis is having being out in the field for once instead of just behind the scenes.

“Okay lads,” Louis continues once the scanner flickers yellow and blue. “I know what to do. Liam, did you bring the Signal Jammer?” Liam nods, immediately getting it out from his backpack. While Liam gets to work with the device, jamming signals from any cell towers that might be nearby, Louis carefully moves further away to make sure it’s working and his phone signal is, in fact, being jammed.

Once they are absolutely sure it worked, they start walking again. Louis warns them that the scanner picked up considerable amounts of metal underground. Definitely suspicious. Zayn takes it to mean that the villains have something underground, possibly a lair in which they are keeping Harry.

The four of them start looking around the lot for anything that could give them a clue. A pile of evenly stacked construction equipment catches Zayn’s eyes, and he goes towards it. The equipment in question looks weird; Zayn feels like the tools are way too precisely placed to be left here casually.

The closer he gets the more out of place they look. Finally when he gets close enough, he touches them. They move forward and a door is revealed underneath. Zayn gasps softly. “Guys, come over here.”

Quickly the other three join him and look down at the door with pensive expressions. “So, what are we going to do?” Liam asks.

“Obviously, we’re going in there,” Zayn says, judging him slightly. “We came here to save him, didn’t we?”

“Yes,” Liam replies with a slight eye roll. “But I mean, what are we going to do if he’s not there, or if he’s down there and he’s injured?”

Niall steps in. “If he’s injured I’ve got a first aid kit in my bag, complete with an AED if it’s the absolute worst…” They make an expression like they are really hoping it doesn’t have to come to that.

“And if he’s not down there, we’ll try something else,” Louis shrugs, like it’s obvious. “Now let’s go, the sooner we get down there the sooner we get out of here.”

“Wait, Louis.” Liam holds him back from jumping in. “We have to talk about what we’re going to do if they catch us.”

“Liam, please, we can take them easily,” Louis responds. “Not only do you have those gigantic muscles that could knock someone out just by looking at them, but I also brought more than enough stun guns to go around.”

With that, Louis opens the door, not waiting for anyone to say anything else. This is yet another reason why Louis is Zayn’s best friend, he thinks. He’s just as impatient as Zayn when it comes to important situations like this. He follows in after Louis; Liam and Niall wait a second with looks on their faces like they are trying to process what just happened. Ultimately they follow behind all the same, though.

As the four of them start walking around, they realize the place is much bigger than they anticipated. They don’t even know where to start looking for Harry.

“This… is going to be much harder than I thought,” Louis mutters. He looks around at the others. “Does anyone have any idea of what we can do other than wandering down the halls endlessly?”

“We could let ourselves get captured,” Zayn offers. The others all turn towards him at once, and look at him like he’s lost his mind. “What? We want to find Harry, and the best way to do that would be to let the professionals take us to him instead of trying to figure it out ourselves.”

“Yeah, I guess that would work,” Louis agrees.

“Hey! What are you doing down here?!” a voice yells, grabbing their attention. They turn around to see a very angry guard.

“Well, that didn’t take long at all,” Liam hisses. The four of them put their hands up and wait for the guard to do what they want with them, not making a single move to reach for their weapons.

The guard wastes no time in forcefully cuffing them and calling in backup to lead them, hopefully, to wherever Harry is.

The four of them are soon thrown into a cell, after the guards make sure to take away Louis’ backpack along with pretty much all their technology. They’re left with their phones though; the guards probably assume they are just simple Uni kids who couldn’t possibly have anything useful on their phones. Best to let them think that, Zayn supposes. Hopefully when they go through Louis’ backpack they don’t start thinking otherwise.

“Zayn? Niall? Liam and Louis?!” Harry asks, interrupting his thoughts. “What are you all doing here?”

“Harry!” All four of them immediately run over and give him a big hug. Harry is obviously a bit confused by Liam and Louis giving him a hug, but he falls into it all the same. Harry’s always had a hard time resisting a hug, something Zayn figured out about him pretty quickly.

“What the heck are you guys doing here?” he repeats when they let him go (with Zayn holding on a little bit longer than the others).

“Better question, what the heck are you _still_ doing in here?” Louis questions. “I thought that organization hired you because you were good at hacking. And yet you haven’t figured out yet how to hack that lock and let yourself out?” He’s not even saying it in a judgmental way, but genuinely concerned and baffled.

“Shh.” Harry lowers his voice, looking around to make sure none of the guards are listening. “I have been. What I’ve found out is that the lock is a double authorization. So one person can’t unlock it on their own; it has to be confirmed by a second person.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Liam whispers back. “There’s obviously more than two of us in here now. We might as well go ahead while they’re not looking.” The others nod.

“Okay,” Harry says to Louis now, who has evidently chosen himself to be the second person in the authorization. “Once I’m in, it’s going to send an authorization in five seconds. So we need to be in at the same time. It’ll send an authorization code to you, you’ll have to intercept it immediately so it doesn't even have the chance to get to them.”

Harry works fast, using his phone to decode the lock. Louis proceeds to use his phone to authorize it. After it works, the two of them high five each other and then all five proceed to exit the underground as quickly and quietly as they can.

During all of this, Harry has no time to ask when exactly this union between all of them happened, but Zayn can tell it’s on the tip of his tongue; sure enough, as soon as they drive away from the construction site, Harry can no longer hold it back.

“So,” he says slowly. “Your friends and my friend are actually getting along? How did that happen? Will we see flying pigs on our drive home too?”

“Probably,” Zayn giggles.

“Well, Harold,” Louis answers from the driver’s seat. “When Niall here told us that you were captured by the real criminal, we knew how important it was to get you back.”

“Which, by the way,” Zayn interrupts. “Is still a question of mine. Why would your boss leak plans of his own company?”

Harry rolls his eyes and looks like he’s trying to stop himself from going on a gigantic rant about the whole thing. “It’s so dumb. Like, he leaked it so that everyone would have the info. That way when he stole the artifacts for himself, nobody in our offices would suspect him because now everybody has the info, not just us.”

“That’s so weird,” Zayn responds. “So is he gonna like put them on the black market or something?”

Harry shrugs. “That’s what it sounds like. I can’t believe this man even got to a management position in the first place. How dumb do you have to be to leak your own company’s plans and possibly get shut down because of it? Do you realize you’re hurting your own paycheck by doing that?”

“Well,” Liam offers. “The people at Fulwell 73 in general have never been the smartest cookies in the box.” Niall and Harry look like they are offended by that comment, but a few seconds later remember what they have been through and what a bad company it really did turn out to be. “Sorry lads, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, it’s okay,” Niall says. “I mean, obviously the two of us weren’t even smart enough to figure out that they were using us and tricking us into thinking we were doing the right thing, so you’re kind of right.” They look down at their shoes, frowning. Zayn and Liam give them and Harry sympathetic looks.

Biting his lip, Zayn isn’t sure if what he’s about to say will make the two of them feel better or worse, but he decides to try his luck. “If it would make you two feel better, you could join our team.”

“What?” Harry’s jaw drops. “Are you serious?”

“I don’t know,” Niall says. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience and ruin your guys’, like, flow or-”

“Niall,” Louis interrupts before they can finish that sentence. “Did we, or did we not, just work together to save Harry? You are obviously not an inconvenience to our ‘flow’ at all.”

“Yeah,” Liam agrees. “And besides, you guys are far from the only ones who have been hurt by this organization. With the help of your experience as one of their employees, we can finally take them down and get justice.”

A fire forms in Niall’s eyes, and for a second it seems as though they’re no longer in this world, but in a different world. A world that lays out in front of them every obstacle they must go through to take down this agency once and for all. “Yes. I’m in.”

Harry seconds Niall’s statement, and everybody cheers. Zayn gives Harry a big kiss – or as big as he can when strained by seatbelts. He’s so happy all of them are a team now.

“So,” Harry says after the hype dies down a little bit. “Now that me and Niall are part of your team, I gotta know, what is the name of your team?”

Liam and Zayn look at each other awkwardly. “Uh… Well…” Liam stammers. “We actually don’t have one, come to think of it.”

“What?!” Harry objects. “You’ve been together for like a million years and you don’t have a name? We need to change that.”

Zayn giggles, finding Harry’s passion about this adorable. “How about you pick a name for us, Harry?”

He thinks about it for a second. “How about… One Direction? Because we are fighting for the world to go in one direction: to justice.”

Everybody cracks up at that, immediately loving the idea. And with that, Louis turns the car into what was until now his, Liam, and Zayn’s hideout. But now it is, and hopefully will forever be, One Direction’s hideout.

***

Even though Niall wanted to quit after seeing what the company did to their best friend, they quickly realized – with encouragement from the other members of One Direction – that continuing to do work as a double agent, and listening to what everyone was saying about Harry, would be the best thing to do to get this operation going.

And while Niall is at work, the boys start trying to figure out ways they can prove Ben is the one who did it. Once Niall gets off they review with each other what they figured out that day.

“Today I overheard some guys in my department talking about Harry,” Niall says, shaking their head. “I had thought it was something Ben would have kept to himself, but evidently everyone knew except me...”

“What were they saying?” Harry dares to ask, looking like he’s not sure he actually wants the answer.

They bite their lip. “Well, one of them asked the other two where ‘that curly haired buffoon’ is.” Despite himself Zayn has to hold back a giggle; he can’t imagine these professionals using the word ‘buffoon’ unironically.

“And then,” they continue. “One responded saying ‘didn’t you hear? Ben fired him.’ Another one said, ‘Not only fired, he straight up locked his a** up. A bit of a shame really, he was fun to take advantage of.’”

A few moments of silence pass before Harry scoffs loudly and says, “Fun to take advantage of? Really? That’s the best they got? Well, I’ll show them.”

And show them they would. A few days later, Niall started trailing Ben, wearing special glasses that would show the rest of One Direction whatever they saw.

The first few trailing expeditions were boring, because it was mostly Niall following him to places like coffee shops and the mall. Zayn can tell they are starting to get irritated with yet another useless trip to the mall, but then Ben instead makes a turn to a part of town they’ve never seen before. “Well, this is new,” Niall whispers.

Zayn gulps as he watches the video. Something doesn’t feel right about any of this. He’s getting chills just watching them slowly creep forward. He can tell the others are thinking the same thing.

Niall keeps going. There’s a building at the end of the street that looks like it’s straight out of a horror movie. Zayn tries to remind himself that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but also, that is one extremely scary cover.

Once they get inside the building and move to where Ben is, everyone’s jaws drop. Zayn even thinks he hears a small gasp escape Niall’s lips, before they immediately hide.

It’s not just Books of the Dead; no, that is far, _far_ from what else is in here. Dozens of illegal weapons line the cabinets all around the room, making Zayn nauseated at the sight. Apparently Niall has seen enough, too, slowly making their way out – and, once they are certain they are out of Ben’s eye and ear sight, they start running.

“Oh my gosh!” they all but scream into their in-ear. “What the f*** was that?!”


	5. Chapter 5

It’s been a few days since Niall found where Ben Winston’s secret stash of illegal things is kept, and although they took a very incriminating video, it still doesn’t prove Ben is the one who leaked the info or kidnapped Harry, so after recuperating, they had to unfortunately return to square one.

“I’m glad he’s gone,” Niall said earlier to two of the agents at Fulwell 73. As they relay this story to the rest of their team Zayn can see the guilt all over their face at saying those words about Harry. “If he was fired from the company, it’s probably for a good reason. I bet he was the one who triggered the leaks.”

“Oh?” one of the agents – named Jessica – replied. “I thought the two of you were besties and owned a house together or something.”

“Well,” they told her. “When we were starting out at this job he kind of latched onto me and forced me into a friendship. I entertained him for a little while because I knew nobody else, but ultimately had to kick him out. He was just too much for me.”

As they go over this conversation with the team back in the lab, they look like they are about to cry. Harry is by their side, rubbing soft circles on their hands. “Niall, it’s okay. You don’t have to cry. I know you didn’t mean it.”

“I’ve told many lies,” they continue, voice distorted by cries. “Thanks to this job. But, I never thought that I would have to lie about loving my best friend.”

He brings them into a full-on hug, and the two of them just sit there for a few moments before he clears his throat and says, “Niall, I know this is hard on you but uh… did you make any more progress?”

Zayn is glad Harry asked that, and asked it in that way too. He didn’t want to say anything, but he also wants to know; he can tell Liam and Louis were thinking the same thing.

Niall nods, facing the group at large again and wiping tears off their face. “Yes.” They quickly turn their demeanor into a more focused one. “I installed a keylogger onto Ben’s computer when he wasn’t looking and programmed the software to feed the info back into my phone.”

They get their phone out of their pocket and start scrolling through. “So far, I have a few passwords of his, as well as his latest Google searches and site visits. You probably don’t want to see most of them to be frank – but one of them leads him to some black market site. Not only is he selling those illegal weapons we saw, but he’s also selling whatever Books he already has.” They turn to make sure the others see what they see. “So I guess he doesn’t really care about having all of them.”

Louis steps in now. “Or maybe he’s gaining interest so that when he _does_ have all of them, he knows who the top bidders will be for them.”

Just after he finishes saying that, Niall gets another notification on their phone. “Speak of the devil,” they mutter as they open an email sent by Ben to someone with an unrecognizable address. The boys all try to scooch in to read it at once, which obviously doesn’t work out. “Lads, please just save yourselves the pain and let me read it to all of you…”

“But what’s the fun in that?” Harry asks, moving aside nonetheless.

Once everyone moves out of Niall’s way, they start reading aloud the email in question.

“To whom it may concern:

My name is Bryce Wesley, a professor of Egyptian Studies in the department of Cultural Studies at Oxford.

I've recently, shall we say, stumbled across information that indicates you have in your possession some rather rare books. These, I'm sure, are not displayed in your Museum, but I'm hoping we can work out a way to set up a private viewing of them.

Some say that Thoth has written thousands upon thousands of books, but that some are more mystical in nature than others. I would like the opportunity to study those, if you've come into possession of any of them in particular. If you don't happen to be in possession of them, I'm certain you can still expand my knowledge of them.”

“Who is Thoth?” Zayn asks before anyone else can speak.

“I don’t know,” Louis responds. “But I think Ben here is going to help us find out.”

“Yes,” Liam says excitedly, clapping his hands. “Come on Niall, lead us forward to the museum!”

And so they do. The address of the museum in question is number three on Ben’s leaked list of addresses Fulwell 73 were planning to hit up for the remaining Books. Zayn silently wonders if he will go in chronological order and look for number four next; if so, the five of them can definitely work with that. He decides to save this information for later and focus on the task at hand.

With the five of them working together, it’s almost too easy to deactivate the security cameras, the alarms, and leave with the Books in no time at all. It all happens so fast that Zayn almost gets dizzy. It’s not until after they start going into the car that he starts worrying someone will catch them.

Luckily, no one does and they get back to the lab safely. Zayn wraps his arms around Harry and gives him a light kiss. Whenever all of these shenanigans blow over, the two of them seriously need to make up for lost time and have, like, a seventy-two hour cuddle session.

***

Ben is mad. No, according to Niall, mad is too small of a word. He’s p***ed.

“Once the lady at the museum got back to ‘Bryce Wesley,’” Niall says. “And said that her artifacts were nowhere to be found, Ben apparently searched Google News to find out what had happened. Afterwards he wrote a fancily-worded response that basically amounts to ‘what the f***?’ When I clocked into work later, he didn’t say out loud why he was mad, but you could see it all over his face and hear it in his voice.” They shiver.

Zayn frowns. “Were you able to figure out what I said last night? About whether or not he’s going in the order of the list?”

“I did actually!” they announce proudly. “He sent another email to the next person on the list, someone named… Dinah Hansen.”

“Okay, easy peasy then,” Harry shrugs. “We go in, using the address on the list, and get out with the book.”

“Sounds a little too easy if you ask me,” Louis responds, with an eyebrow up. Zayn looks over at him; he felt more sure about this until Louis said those words.

“Oh Louis, don’t be so dramatic,” Liam says, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We succeeded last time, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, but how many successes can we truly have before it gets messed up?” There is obvious worry in Louis’ voice.

Zayn quietly agrees with him, but speaks up, trying to reassure both of them. “Is this Book located in a museum owned by Dinah Hansen or their house?”

“Well… I can’t actually tell,” Niall replies honestly. _That’s the wrong answer,_ Zayn thinks to himself, sighing because maybe Louis is right.

“Alright, alright,” Harry says. “Let’s not panic just yet. Let’s run a background check and get some intel, alright?” Grunts of ‘yeah’ ‘alright’ ‘good idea’ fill the room.

Harry goes over to a nearby computer in the lab, with the others following him. He starts running a quick background check on Dinah Hansen, using a website recommended to him by one of his friends who does investigative journalism. After a few moments of looking through it he figures out the address on the list is, in fact, her house and not a museum.

“Well, what are we going to do then?” Zayn asks. “We can’t just let Ben get the Book.” Niall gets a notification on their phone. They giggle upon opening it. “What?”

“Oh nothing,” they continue giggling. “Dinah Hansen just responded to Ben saying that there ‘ain’t no way’ she’s giving him the Book and he better not ask again.” The boys chuckle too upon hearing it out loud.

Except for Liam, who says, “While I would love to believe that there’s nothing to worry about now, I still think there is. Knowing Ben, he doesn’t react kindly when he doesn’t get his way.”

“You’re right,” Harry agrees. “We should still try to get in before he does.”

“Shouldn’t we also try to, like, protect her?” Zayn asks, feeling uneasy at the idea of Ben not only taking the Book from her, but also possibly hurting her physically.

“Don’t worry, we will,” Liam responds with certainty. “We’ll go there, tell her who we are, and not let Ben even think about hurting her.” Everybody quickly agrees with that.

***

A little while later, the five of them go to Dinah Hansen’s house. Zayn’s not completely sure their arrival will be welcomed with open arms, but he figures once they explain themselves she’ll probably be more relieved than angry at them.

They park and walk up to knock on her door. When she opens she’s immediately caught off guard - can’t blame her, Zayn thinks, I would be too if five people randomly showed up at my door.

She gives them all a once-over and snarkily tells them, “Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want it.”

That causes a bit of a giggle to escape Zayn’s lips, though he tries to hold it back.

“Not here to sell anything at all,” Liam responds, assuming the leadership position suddenly. “We’re here because of an email you might have received recently… from Ben Winston?”

“If you work for him and are trying to make me give up my Book, you can forget it,” she responds, any slight sign of politeness gone.

“No, no, it’s nothing like that,” Liam assures her. “We are actually trying to make sure he doesn’t get it, or hurt you.” She looks at him, confused. “May we come in?”

Still wary, she nods, holding the door for them. Sitting down, Liam continues, “I am Liam Payne. Me and my friends have been working against Ben Winston for a while now; he’s currently trying his hardest to get all of the Books of the Dead for his own, and we know you said no to him.”

Dinah’s eyes widen, no doubt scared they read her emails. Liam seems to not notice, or just ignores it, because he keeps going. “We just want to make sure you are safe, that’s why we came here. We know he can become violent when he doesn’t get his way, so we want to make sure he doesn’t break in your house and try to hurt you.”

“So I’m supposed to trust you after you just openly admitted you looked at my emails?” she sasses.

Harry nods solemnly. “That’s fair…” He drifts off for a moment, then seems to come back to reality, shaking his head. “You know Dinah, when I first started working for Ben Winston’s company, he told me I was doing something good. That I was going to help people, and make the world a better place. But he doesn’t want to help people; he just wants to help himself.”

He pulls something up on his phone that Zayn can’t see and shows it to her. She gasps. “Those are just a few of the illegal weapons we found in his possession a few days ago. That’s the kind of thing he has been doing since I started working for him, without telling me or anybody else I know. What we’re now trying to stop.”

The sincerity of his tone seems to win her over. “Is he… going to take one of those weapons and shoot me?” She’s shaking slightly.

“If you allow us to protect you, nothing of the sort will happen to you, we’ll make sure of it,” Liam assures.

Dinah nods, still shaking but seeming to have faith in them now. “Alright. Of course. Do what you have to do. Thank you.”

With that, the five of them try to figure out where they’re stationed for the stakeout. Some of them stay inside while others hide outside. As all of this is going on, Zayn can see Dinah’s face still switching between stages of anger and acceptance; she really doesn’t want them in her house, not that he can blame her.

He gets into his position, outside by the window on the back porch. He thinks about how he’s not even sure One Direction will be able to take the Book from her after all of this is over; maybe this will just have to be one that stays in the UK…

His thoughts are interrupted by a voice. For a split second he gets ready to rumble but then he realizes it’s Louis’ voice. “Hi mum. I’m sorry I haven’t called you in a while, work has been really busy.”

All of One Direction have kept their communication devices on to be able to talk to each other quickly, but Louis’ clearly forgotten his is on while calling his mum. Zayn knows he should remind him, but he’s curious to hear what Louis will say.

Ever since the big leak happened, none of them have really had time to slow down and talk to their parents. Zayn knows how much that has hurt him, even though he has tried not to think about it; he imagines the others probably have been feeling similarly, especially Louis.

Louis’ mum has been his entire world since the day he was born; through all the ups and the downs, she’s always been the rock that keeps him grounded. And she immediately made Liam and Zayn feel like honorary sons of hers when they first met her. So many years ago… Zayn has to stop himself from sniffling.

Louis, on the other hand, makes a very big sniffling sound as the conversation continues. “Yeah, I know mum, I’m so sorry for making you worry. I hate, I hate when I go a long time without talking to you. But I’m okay. I’m alive, you know?” His voice is strained, like every word is a fight to keep it together. “Yes, I’m alive. And I will be for a long time, I promise you.”

Zayn cuts his communication device off finally; listening to his best friend reassuring his mother he’s alive is not something he ever thought he would have to listen to. He takes deep breaths, but tears still sting his eyes. This was never a kind of situation he thought any of them would be in nine years ago when they started this.

Zayn remembers that day clearly. He, Louis, and Liam had been talking for a while about starting up something like this, and that day Louis told them they finally had their first ‘mission.’ It was a very small-scale one – and whether or not they did a ‘good’ job on it is debatable – but all the same they were finally finding their footing, which meant it was time to have a talk with his parents.

“Mum, dad,” began a sixteen year old Zayn at the dinner table. “Me and the lads, Liam and Louis, are gonna start a group to help catch criminals.”

His dad, Yaser, and his mom, Trisha, looked at each other amusedly. “Oh yeah?” Trisha asked. “Could you help me figure out who stole my favorite blue nail polish, then?” She giggled.

“Mum, I’m being serious,” Zayn continued. “There have been a band of biker thieves lately and the police can’t place them, but me and the lads have figured out a pattern and we could really help them figure out where they’ll go next-”

Yaser was immediately equal parts concerned and outraged in his reply. “What are you talking about? You’re only teenagers!”

“I know that, dad,” Zayn said. “But we’re, like, 99.9 percent positive about this, and the police could really use our help with this.” He spoke with such certainty for a sixteen year old; he truly had no idea what he was signing up for at the time.

His mum was as supportive as she could be, her main concern was safety and she always made triple sure all three boys had all the safety tools they needed at the time. However, his dad was not a fan of the idea at all and tension built between them. It didn’t go away until Zayn turned eighteen and could legally make decisions for himself. Even after he turned eighteen, Zayn could still feel a bit of wariness from his father, but he seemed to ultimately realize he couldn’t do anything to stop Zayn anymore.

Thinking about this, and Louis’ call to his mum, he decides to call his own mum. It’s been quite a few days since he talked to either of them, and they are probably worried sick about his radio silence.

She picks up almost immediately. “Hello, Zayn!”

“Hi, mum.” Hearing her voice alone is enough to warm him from the inside out.

“We haven’t heard from you in so long,” she says. “It’s so nice to hear from you-” She goes off for a second and he thinks he can hear her talking to Yaser. When she returns, she lets him know he’s on speaker now. “What is it that kept you so long from talking to us, pota?”

He smiles. ‘Pota’ is an endearing term in Urdu, similar to ‘dear.’ His parents use it a lot, but for some reason whenever his mum specifically says it he lights up inside. Probably because she wasn’t raised in the language like his father was, so continuing the tradition is very sweet of her.

“Well, umm… So much has happened in such a short time.” He finds it hard to know where to start; he decides to start with the good news. “Well, I guess the first thing is, I got a boyfriend.”

His parents immediately gasp, with Trisha sounding like she’s trying to stifle a squeal. “That’s so amazing sweetie. When- how did this happen?”

“Well… He kind of works for that company we’re always talking about.” He scratches at his neck awkwardly. “Or, he did. They fired him when he figured out they were just using him.” ‘Fired’ is a major understatement, of course, Zayn knows. But with his parents, he still feels like he has to slowly break things to them instead of saying it all at once. It’s difficult sometimes.

“What?” Her voice breaks.

“Are you sure he has your best intentions, son?” Yaser speaks. “With the things you’ve said about that company, I’d be very careful of anyone from it, past or present.”

Zayn sighs. This is really going to be a long conversation, isn’t it? Well, at least that’s better than staring at the sky waiting for Ben to show up, he supposes.

He tells his parents everything; from that first day at the museum with Harry, to Ben leaking the locations of the Books and how his own company planned to steal them, to Ben’s creepy building of illegal weapons and other stuff, to now. They listen carefully, making comments here and there, and Zayn soon finds himself relaxing into their voices, their comfort. He misses his parents so much; he hates having to be away from them for work so often.

“So is there anything you can possibly do, about Ben?” Yaser asks, a slightly worried tinge to his voice.

“We are doing something right now by getting to the Books before he does,” Zayn says. “And the other day Liam told me he has been working on a paper trail that connects Ben to the guns he is currently selling on the black market.”

Just then, Zayn hears a thud nearby. He knows Ben must be coming. “I have to hop off now, I’m afraid. I’ll talk to you guys soon though, yeah?” he whispers, as if he’s afraid Ben will be able to reach his parents through the phone even though he knows that’s not possible.

“You better,” Yaser teases, although Zayn can hear a bit of worry in his voice.

“Oh, Zayn dear, stay safe,” Trisha says, still sounding a bit shaken up from Zayn’s story. “You and the rest of One Direction. All of you, stay safe.”

“Thank you mum. I love you both, bye-bye.” He hangs up quickly, turning his communication device back on. He immediately hurries to catch himself up. “Guys, what’s going on? Is Ben here?”

“No,” Harry responds, chuckling slightly. “The loser sent someone else from our company to do his dirty work.”

Zayn hears them getting closer to him, and sinks low in his spot as he says, quiet as he can, “They’re heading my way, what should I do?”

“Wait until he walks past you,” Harry instructs. “Then, head for his communication device. Louis and I will get him from the front and start tying him up.”

Zayn obliges, going completely silent and still as the henchman takes his time, looking all around without seeing Zayn in his stealth suit. As soon as he is starting to walk away Zayn snatches his communication device in one swift motion, Louis appears and holds his mouth shut, and Harry starts wrapping rope around his front – with Zayn wrapping it around his back.

It all happens very quickly, and then Louis is using his comm device to talk to Niall and Liam. “We apprehended Ben’s henchman. Get Ms. Hansen out of the house while we make sure he’s alone.”

“On it, Louis,” Liam responds immediately.

While Niall and Liam are carefully moving Dinah Hansen, Zayn, Louis, and Harry also work to carefully move the agent into their car, making a plan to turn him into the police after this blows over.

After making sure the agent is absolutely trapped inside the car, they lock it and split up to look around for any back-up Fulwell 73 might have brought. For his part, Zayn investigates inside the house. Since it’s only one story, there’s not as many places to sneak in from as there would be if the house was bigger. Still, it has a lot of windows for a small house.

He tries his best to investigate the house from every possible entry point. He comes up empty every single time though. “It’s all clear in here, guys,” Zayn says into his communication device. “What about you all?”

“All clear,” Louis agrees from his spot on the roof. “You clear, Harry?”

“Yeah,” Harry confirms. “Liam and Niall, you can start bringing her back now if you want-”

Zayn doesn’t hear Harry finish that sentence though because instead he hears (and sees) a window break in front of him. “S***,” he mutters before he can stop himself.

“Zayn?” Harry asks, concerned. “What’s wrong? Is someone in there?”

“It’s Ben.” He barely gets it out before the man in question starts walking towards him.

“That’s right,” Ben says, a smirk on his face – one that shouldn’t be visible given how dark it is, but the moon decided to light it up through the many windows. “So, let me make a deal with you. I have eyes on your friends, and if you tell them what we’re talking about I will kill them, but if you hear me out they will live.”

Breathless, Zayn can hear the others trying to reach him through the communication device, but he doesn’t respond to them. Knowing what they saw in Ben’s secret house, he doesn’t think he wants to test this guy’s patience so he nods and takes his communication device out of his ear, making sure Ben can see him doing it.

“You seem like a very smart lad,” Ben starts. “I bet you know, then, that the Books don’t truly belong to us, here in the UK.”

“Right…” Zayn wonders where exactly he’s going with this. Yes, they don’t belong in the UK, that’s why One Direction have been trying to stop Ben from taking them for his own selfish desires.

“They belong in Egypt,” Ben continues. “And I’m trying to make things right by returning them to their rightful owners.”

Zayn controls his facial expression, nodding. So, that’s what this is. Ben legitimately doesn’t realize they are on to him. “And you think breaking people’s windows is the way to do that?” Zayn knows he shouldn’t be punching over his weight, but he can’t help himself.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and to his credit he does a really good job at playing the part and seeming genuinely sad. If Zayn didn’t know what he knows, he would probably fall for it. “I didn’t know what to expect, I was afraid somebody else might already be here and try to charge at me.”

 _If they did you would deserve it since you entered private property without permission_ , Zayn thinks but doesn’t say. Ben can tell Zayn remains unamused. “Look, I’m sorry for getting off on the wrong foot with you and threatening you. For what it’s worth, I think you and your friends are doing great work. What do you say we make a deal?”

Zayn smiles, but not because he believes Ben; he can tell someone else has snuck in, like when you can feel somebody staring at you and when you turn around, they are. “Right, what kind of deal?”

“You and your friends can help me get the Book, and we can take it back to Egypt together,” Ben offers, with a smile on his face like he’s succeeded in pulling Zayn in now.

“Oh, are you going to drop me off in the underground prison again on your way there?” Harry challenges, swooping down from the ceiling. Ben gasps, and Zayn’s grin just gets wider. _Now we’re talking_.

After a few seconds of grasping the fact that Harry is in front of him, Ben’s little charade immediately disappears. “Harry. If you had just cooperated this all would never have had to happen.”

“What, you mean if I had cooperated you wouldn’t have continued to steal these Books for your own personal gain?” Harry raises his eyebrows. “Somehow, I don’t believe that.”

Ben cackles, and it’s the ugliest noise Zayn has ever heard in his life. He reaches behind Harry to grab his hand as a way of saying ‘I will defend you if he tries anything.’

“You should be grateful to me, you know. Without your daddy getting you this job in the first place, who knows where you would have ended up? Fulwell 73 reads better on applications than McDonalds you know.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that now, bruv.” Zayn steps in, feeling the tension building in Harry at the mention of his father. “When the world finds out that the CEO of this multi-million dollar company leaked his own plans and imprisoned one of his workers, more people are going to be discouraged to go there than a few vegetarians.”

“Well aren’t you full of it?” Ben leans in close and says to both of their faces, “The world’s never going to find out. You may think you’re good at what you do, but I have been doing this since before either of you were even born. If you think for even a second you have won this battle, just know that I fully intend to win the war.” He steps back, and before Zayn or Harry can touch him, he pushes a button on his backpack and activates a jetpack, flying out of the window he broke.

After the surprise wears off, Zayn turns to Harry. “Are you alright, love?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Harry responds, putting his finger on his comm device. “Did you get all that Niall?”

“Yep, recorded every single word,” Zayn hears Niall say from Harry’s device, since he still doesn’t have his own back on. “Now, let’s go ahead and get Miss Hansen back into her house – and drop the agent off at the police.”

Zayn is taken aback instantly. Harry is just smirking at him. “You… told them to record? How did you know for sure he would admit everything?”

“Well, I didn’t know for sure,” Harry admits. “But I had a feeling that me catching him off guard when he thought he was making a deal with you would anger him enough to say things he’s usually too smart to say.”

Zayn is all at once overcome with his love for this boy. Zayn kisses him without really stopping to consider their surroundings. He doesn’t truly realize how long, or how hard, he has been kissing him until he hears Dinah clear her throat.

“Can y’all please do that in your own homes?!”

The two boys break away from each other and turn around, blushing. Zayn wants to apologize – but she looks so done with both of them, and with this night in general – so he knows an apology would only make things worse at this point.

Instead, he and Harry wish her a good night and head back to their car. Everyone heads home, except for Niall who puts on a disguise so they look like just a normal civilian and takes the agent to the police, telling them that Niall saw him breaking into Dinah Hansen’s house.

They will do something with the recording of Ben openly admitting to his crimes at a later date; after all, they still have a few loose ends they need to tie up beforehand.

***

One Direction have started kicking it into high gear. They have all been doing solo missions recently in order to cover the most ground possible; getting the Books as well as getting rid of the illegal weapons they found, before Ben can slip through their hands and disappear somewhere they can’t reach him.

Today, Zayn has been picked as the one to watch the videos in the lab. He watches as Niall creeps into the next venue on Ben’s list, sneaky as ever. As Zayn watches the video he laughs internally, still thinking about how Ben admitted to his own crimes out loud a few nights ago. All of this is basically just a formality at this point; once they release that audio, it will all be over.

Niall has just opened the safe and is reaching to grab the latest Book, when all of a sudden… they black out. The last thing Zayn sees on his monitor is Ben Winston’s face.

It takes him a few minutes of just sitting there and blinking at the screen, as if that will somehow make them come back, before he finds the strength to tell the boys, “He took Niall…”

Zayn doesn’t even have to specify who ‘he’ is, as all three voices – at different volumes – immediately say in his ear, “What?!”

***

After finishing up their individual missions, the boys came as quickly as they could back to the lab. Zayn was a bit worried at first that Ben would catch another one of them in their efforts, but he was happy to be proven wrong. Well, as happy as one can be in these circumstances.

They are now sitting altogether in the lab, trying to figure out where to go from here. “Do you think he would take them to the same place he took Harry?” Liam asks.

“I don’t,” Harry says. “He definitely knows we’re on his trail now, ever since me and Zayn caught him at Ms. Hansen’s.” He takes a deep breath. “And he probably is expecting us to look there first.” His body is trembling, Zayn can tell he is extremely worried about his best friend. They all are, of course, but Harry is probably the worst of all of them.

Zayn rubs soothing circles on one of his legs. “I think Harry’s right. He probably would not put them in the same place. However, we could use the same ways to track them as we used to track Harry.”

Louis nods. “I was thinking the same thing.” He starts towards one of the computers, adrenaline readable all over his face. “I set up a tracker on all of our communication devices pretty soon after Niall and Harry joined us, just in case something like this happened…” He’s typing so quickly, Zayn gets a bit dizzy watching his fingers.

The location that comes up, however, is a little ways past the location they already knew Niall was just at; the location of the Book they were looking for.

“Well,” Liam says, clearing the air of annoyance and disappointment in the room. “If that’s the only lead we’ve got then we should look around and see if it will give us any clues.” Since nobody has a better idea, they all follow Liam’s suggestion and pile into the car.

When they get there, before they can even get out of the car, they all collectively gasp. There is caution tape around the building Zayn had just watched Niall sneak into not too long ago. Far, far worse than that however, is the image in front of the building; Ben Winston, putting on his fake sad face, talking to the police and motioning to the building as he does.

As Louis looks at the scene in front of him, his face twists into a furious expression. His hands start balling up into fists. “What f***ing lies is that prick telling them?” He reaches for the door, but Liam and Zayn grab him to hold him back.

“Louis, no,” Liam orders, soft but stern. “We can’t go in there and make a scene. It will only make things worse.”

“F*** that!” Louis declares, trying to break free, but Liam’s grip is too firm for him to succeed. Zayn is also still holding on; although, if he can be honest, he kind of wants to let Louis go and join him in knocking Ben out.

Zayn hears Harry beside him sniffling, and pauses holding Louis – Liam is doing most of the heavy lifting anyway – to turn to Harry. “What do you think they’re saying about them down there?” He wipes a tear off his cheek.

“I don’t know,” Zayn says, squeezing Harry’s hand one time. “But I’m gonna find out. Liam, make sure Harry and Louis stay put. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait, what-?” Before Harry can finish that sentence, Zayn gets out of the car. He tries to put on his most charming face as he walks down to the scene.

He pretends to be shocked when he sees the action going on in front of him. Ben and the police officer he’s talking to look over at Zayn, and for just a split second Zayn can see Ben’s face turn angry before remembering he needs to keep his best customer service smile on for the nice police officers.

“What are you doing out here, son?” the police officer – Carl, according to the badge – asks.

“I always go to this museum,” Zayn tells them innocently. “It helps me find inspiration for things to paint and write about.” He picks a pen and paper out of his pocket and holds them out so Carl can see.

“Ah,” Carl says, returning his view to his own pen and paper. “Well, the museum is closed for the time being, so I’m afraid you’ll have to go home and paint there.”

“Aww… What happened?” Zayn is putting on his best schoolboy impression; Ben knows it, but there’s nothing he can do unless he wants to look like the villain he is. Zayn is getting a hoot out of it, quite honestly.

“Some bonehead stole a book from one of their safes,” Carl replies without looking up. “This man-” he points to Ben “-was a witness.”

“Oh yeah?” Zayn turns to Ben. “What did you see?”

Ben smirks, knowing exactly the game Zayn is playing. “I’d rather not get into it…”

“Well, did you try to stop them, whoever they were?”

“He did,” Carl interrupts, blissfully unaware of the tension in the air. “But the thief was too fast. For now, please go back to your home and keep an eye on the news. Once we have a picture or a name, we will be sure everyone in the area knows.”

“Okay, thank you officer Carl,” Zayn says, sharing one last ‘this isn’t over’ glace with Ben, who gives him a ‘that’s what you think’ in return. Zayn starts walking back up to the car, making sure nobody is watching him and can see how many people are in the car. Nobody is, they are all too busy investigating the crime scene.

As soon as he closes the door, Harry frantically grabs him and asks, “What did he say? What are they doing to my Nialler?”

Zayn takes a deep breath, afraid both Harry and Louis are going to jump out of the car and run down there when he says the next words. “Ben is framing Niall as the villain in this story, telling the police that he was a witness who saw them steal the Book and then run away…”

Zayn looks at Harry, who has his mouth open in a stunned expression. Then he looks at Louis, whose anger is still very much evident as he mutters, “that f***er,” and starts the car.

***

Team One Direction minus Niall are listening to police scanners now, just waiting for someone to mention the person in question. Probably not by name, but they’re listening for keywords like “someone matching the description given by the witness in the London History Museum case.”

It’s been quite a few hours, and the cases of car collisions and store robberies keep ticking by. It’s stuff the boys usually would care about – and they do still care, don’t get them wrong – but right now they’re on a very specific mission. They just have to trust the police to take care of these ones…

“Alert! Alert!” the scanner says suddenly. “We have found someone who matches the description given of the London History Museum thief.” _Well_ , Zayn thinks. _Pretty much called that quote_.

They all immediately put the pedal to the metal and head towards the location read off on the scanner. None of them are exactly sure what they are going to find, but that’s all the more reason to go, in Zayn’s opinion.

They’re pulling around the final corner when they see the police, putting handcuffs on… someone who is not Niall. This person has much, much longer hair as well as brown eyes, not blue like Niall’s. The boys all turn to each other, and with a sigh of disappointment, they turn back around. They will listen to the police scanner for as much longer as they can stay awake, just in case someone else who ‘matches the description’ shows up later on…

***

Zayn wakes up to his phone blaring up a storm. He kept it on all night even after going to bed, but since Louis’ ringtone is already halfway over, he worries that he missed a few calls anyway and this is, like, Louis’ third time trying to reach him or something.

Sitting up as quick as he can, Zayn picks up the phone. “Hello,” he says, sounding more awake than he feels.

“Zayn, you need to get outside right now! We’ve been waiting for like ten minutes.” Louis’ voice sounds like he just saw his house catch on fire.

“Why? What’s going on?!” Wide awake now, Zayn puts on his shoes and deodorant, not even bothering to change out of the clothes he fell asleep in yesterday.

“Ben’s gone public with his incrimination of Niall,” Louis responds, his voice echoing as Zayn gets closer to the door. “I don’t know for sure what he did, but the police ‘caught’ them at a crime scene. It’s all over the telly.”

By this point both boys hang up their phones because Zayn is in the car buckling his seatbelt. He starts typing at his phone now, searching news sites for ‘Niall Horan’ and gasping, horrified, as he sees their mugshot. That is one picture he never thought he would see of them as long as he lived – a mugshot.

As the boys are driving, he watches a video where the news anchors talk about ‘Niall Horan, the thief who stole from the London History Museum, has been apprehended by the police after being caught trying to steal another item from the house of a patron who wishes to remain unnamed.’

The news anchors go on to say that Ben Winston is the ‘hero’ who caught the thief in the action once again. Zayn wants to puke. “So, none of them find it a bit suspicious that Ben is the one who ‘caught’ them both times? Like, is that really not a red flag to _anyone_?!”

He knows he’s preaching to the choir here, but he can’t stand it. Why do good people have to get framed while people like the tools at Fulwell 73 get to walk free? It is a cruel world they live in…

Zayn takes deep breaths. In, out. In, out. It’s going to be okay – is it? Is he sure about that? He’s not, really. In fact, where are they going right now? What exactly is their plan? He decides to ask instead of just trying to guess in his head…

“Well,” Liam tells him. “First, we are going to visit them in jail, just as a way of reassuring them that we are here and we are going to get them out. And then we’re going to go back to the lab and find the backups of the recording they took that night, and submit them to the police.”

That calms Zayn, at least for the time being. He still isn’t sure what he can possibly say to Niall to reassure them things are going to be okay, but he will try his best. It feels like a lifetime passes before they finally reach the jailhouse and park the car.

The boys awkwardly make their way into the building, not wanting to attract too much attention to themselves as a group of four people who have done quite a few not-so-legal things in the name of justice.

They are told the basic rules: No touching, no bringing anything inside, and you must sit across the table from the incarcerated. At first, they aren’t completely sure how all four of them are going to be able to sit across from Niall and nobody be beside them, but the guards solve this issue by putting them at a large table. Four boys on one side, one person on the other side.

When Zayn starts walking to his seat and sees Niall – who always has something positive to say even in the worst situation, who always carries a joyful energy with them even when they are sad or angry – sitting in a cell chair in an orange robe, he is almost speechless.

He takes a seat and starts talking. “I hate seeing you like this.”

“I do too,” Niall laughs, wiping at their eyes. “But you lads coming to see me is giving me faith it won’t be long.”

“It won’t be,” Liam assures, dropping his voice a little bit. “We have a plan.”

“Oh yeah?” they ask attentively. “I mean I assumed you did, but hearing you say it makes me feel a lot better, all the same.”

Louis whispers, “We still have those backups you made of when you recorded Ben. What we’re going to do is take them and make them public, so everyone will know Ben is a liar and you are innocent.”

Niall replies, but Zayn doesn’t really hear it because he’s looking at Harry, who hasn’t said anything yet. “Are you okay, Harry?”

Harry shakes his head. He turns to Niall, who then asks the same question. Harry wipes his own eyes now. “I wish I could give you the biggest hug right now. I’ve seen a few people in jail in our time with… him, but I never thought you would be one of them.”

Niall starts reaching over for his hand before the security guards yell a reminder at them ‘no touching.’ They take their hand back, and Zayn thinks he sees them shoot the bird for half a second.

“It’s okay, Harry. With your help, and the help of the rest of these lads, you will be able to hug me again really soon.” They wink, and in an announcer voice say, “This isn’t the last of Team One Direction.”

Harry starts sobbing at that, and the boys give him a big hug. Zayn is positive if ‘the incarcerated’ were allowed to touch him, they would be joining in on it too. After a few seconds, Harry sits up straight again, trying to breathe without sniffling. “I, I gotta go back to the car. I gotta go…”

“Yeah,” Louis says. “Probably best if we all, head out now. We will see you soon Niall, promise.”

“Thank you, boys,” they reply, that glowing smile that Zayn loves coming back little by little. “I really appreciate your help in this time, and I’m sorry I ever distrusted you.”

Zayn, Liam, and Louis all share a look and shake their heads. “Don’t even worry about it,” Zayn says. “That’s all way past us now.”

They all share a final smile with each other and the boys make their way back to the car. As they do, Zayn prays for Niall’s safety and that the four of them will succeed in their mission to free them, inshAllah.


	6. Chapter 6

Liam and Louis hop out of the car and go into the lab, leaving Zayn and Harry to guard the car (which is really just a garbage excuse to be alone with each other, as everyone knows).

The two of them unbuckle their seatbelts and scooch closer to each other, and at some point Harry ends up in Zayn’s arms.

“What if, it doesn’t work?” Harry asks after a few seconds of just lying there.

Zayn shoots him a confused look. “What do you mean? How would it not work? Ben openly admitted he lied.”

“I know that,” Harry replies. “But whatever he did to make the public believe Niall is a thief, it worked. I mean, their face is plastered all over the news… What if they aren’t let out of jail and the police just put Ben in jail _with_ Niall?” He starts wiping his eyes.

“Hey,” Zayn says gently, squeezing him tighter for a second. “We won’t let that happen alright? We will get them out and back home with you safely. I promise.” He removes his pinkie finger from Harry’s chest for good measure. Harry looks down at it and giggles, wrapping his own pinkie around Zayn’s.

At that moment, Louis steps back into the car, followed by Liam. “Alright, lovebirds,” Louis says. “Sit up. We’ve still got a lot more to do.”

Zayn and Harry oblige, a bit begrudgingly removing themselves from each other. “Why did it take you so long to gather evidence you already had?” Zayn asks as he puts his seatbelt on.

“Well, you didn’t look like you missed me too much Zayn,” Louis teases as he starts the car. Zayn sends him a glare, although he still feels a bit of heat on his cheeks at the comment.

Louis turns back to serious mode soon after, breathy as he says, “We had to make sure the video of Ben kidnapping Niall was edited enough so that it can still show him kidnapping them, but they look like they’re in a place they’re supposed to be, rather than stealing a Book themself.”

“Yeah,” Liam continues. “And I wanted to make sure Ben’s flight records wouldn’t end up always showing us in the same place at the same time.”

To be quite honest, Zayn was only being like forty percent serious when he asked that question. He knew they had good reasons to be taking their time with the evidence. He’s not sure their answers make him feel better or worse; what if they still missed an important piece of evidence? What if Harry was right, and Ben will be in jail with Niall instead of free? His anxiety is kicking into overdrive now. What. If?

His deep breaths and heavy thoughts are interrupted by Harry asking, “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the police station.” Zayn hadn’t even noticed where they were going until Harry said that, and now that he’s looking around it definitely doesn’t look anywhere near the jailhouse.

“We’re picking up Dinah,” Louis tells him. “She’s going to help us, being able to vouch that Ben did in fact break into her house and try to steal from her.”

That should make Zayn feel a little bit better, but it doesn’t really. He anxiously wonders if she will still be mad at them for reading her emails, even if they were protecting her, or if she will hold a grudge on Zayn and Harry for making out in her living room, which would be ridiculous but…

The car stops. As Louis walks outside, Zayn awkwardly moves from his current seat to the middle seat, not waiting to be told. A few moments later Dinah opens the door next to him and smiles as she sits down, saying, “It’s nice to see you two again at a time when you _aren’t_ attached by the lips.”

Harry laughs at that, and that eases Zayn’s anxiety a little bit as he laughs too. A little bit, not a lot because they are making their way to the state police precinct, and he can feel his legs ‘falling asleep’ even though he’s only been sitting in the middle seat for like two seconds. He tries to put in earbuds and listen to uplifting music or look at pictures of his family, but none of those coping mechanisms are working this time…

He barely notices it when the others all start getting out of the car, but Harry grabs his hand and helps him out. He silently thanks Harry, not wanting to admit loudly that he was so in his own head he hardly noticed they stopped.

All of them make their way towards the door with Louis at the head of the line. Once inside the front lobby, an officer asks them why they’re here. “We need to speak to the officers regarding the Niall Horan case,” Louis says. “We have important evidence that can prove their innocence.”

The cops kind of exchange disbelieving gazes with each other for a second; Zayn thinks he hears one of them chuckle at the very idea Niall could be innocent, but despite this they do their job and bring in the officers working on the case.

Once again, the new officers ask them what they want.

“We have reason to believe that Niall Horan has been falsely accused of stealing Books of the Dead,” Louis tells them. “And not only this, but we have proof that the real thief has been hoarding illegal weapons for profit on the black market.” He puts his papers in their hands.

Dinah steps forward. “I also offer my witness statement. The real thief broke into my house and tried to steal the Book my family has owned for years. He tried to con me out of it after I explicitly said he couldn’t have it.”

Zayn holds his breath as the officers look down at the papers in their hands, then look back up at Dinah and Louis.

“We will review the evidence and if we find it substantial you will hear back in two to three days,” one of them says. They turn to Dinah and say, “For now, please give us your phone number so that we may contact you if we have anymore questions.” She obliges, writing down her number on the paper they give her.

 _Two to three days,_ Zayn repeats in his head. _Two to three days and this will all finally be over…_

***

Two days pass and they get a call from Dinah that she has be summoned to testify in court. They also asked her if she would ask the “guy who gave them the papers” if he wanted to do the same. Louis said yes.

Now Zayn is kind of just sitting, staring at his phone, and waiting for a new text from Louis or Dinah, because that’s all he can do. He knows a watched phone never rings, but darn it he just wants this phone to ring already. He needs to know everything is going to be okay for his best friends…

Just then, someone knocks on the door, bringing him back from his almost-slumber caused by staring at the phone for too long. After a quick heart jump, he goes to the door and looks through the peephole, hoping it’s not the feds asking for additional testimonies; he is way too nervous to carry on a believable argument right now.

It’s not, it’s Harry. “Okay,” he says as he opens the door. “How is it you just _know_ when I need you? It’s kind of creepy how you always show up in some way when I’m down…”

“How do you know I don’t need you, too?” Harry challenges, helping himself to the closest chair. Zayn sits down next to him soon after. “This is a two way street, you know.”

Zayn smiles slightly at that comment. He keeps clicking at his phone even as Harry puts his arm around him. “You shouldn’t have to be scared,” Harry tries to reassure him. “Louis and Dinah are good people.”

“I know that,” Zayn responds, a tiny bit more defensive than intended. “It’s not them I’m scared of making mistakes, it’s the judges. Ben has more money than all of us combined, he can get the best lawyers, or pay off the courts in his favor…”

Before he can finish that sentence, Zayn and Harry get video chat requests on their phones, both from Louis. They both look at their phones awkwardly, and Zayn presses ‘accept’ as his heart starts beating quickly again. Harry presses ‘ignore’ because there’s no point when he can just share Zayn’s phone.

“The court ruled in our favor!” Louis announces immediately. Zayn and Harry start cheering; they can see Dinah doing the same behind Louis in the video. “They said Niall will be released in just a few minutes! It’s all going to work out, much to Ben and his lawyer’s disapproval.” Louis smiles that passive aggressive smile only he can do best, and Zayn snickers.

“So, did they say anything about Fulwell 73 getting shut down now?” Zayn asks, a little too enthusiastically.

“Not to our faces,” Louis admits. “But I can’t imagine it not happening after all of this.” All of them are a bit too smug about that, but Zayn thinks they have earned it personally after everything that this company has done to them.

Liam pipes up now; Zayn didn’t even notice he was also on the group video. “So did they believe what you said about the video evidence of Ben kidnapping Niall? I was really worried about that part…”

Zayn is confused for a second, before he realizes that no matter how incriminating that evidence is, it would definitely raise suspicions of why they would have the video in the first place.

“Yeah, they did,” Louis nods. “I was nervous about that part too, but I just said ‘they were testing out new technology in their house’ and they believed me. Ben’s lawyer said that sounded too convenient to be accurate, but the judges ultimately sided with us.”

Zayn is so happy, he can’t control his smile. “Thank you so much for letting us know, Louis! Once they are out we will definitely have to have one of those old cheesy karaoke parties we love to do.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Louis agrees. “Team One Direction haven’t partied together yet, and that deffo needs to be fixed.” He gets in his car. “Well, I’m gonna go now, but I’ll talk to you lads later, alright?”

“Alright, later,” the three other boys echo as everyone signs off their phones.

Zayn hasn’t had any coffee or tea today, but suddenly he is a bottle of energy as he takes Harry’s hands in his. “We did it!” he cheers, jumping a tiny bit. “We freed Niall, locked Ben up, and Fulwell 73 is probably going to finally get what’s been coming to it for a long, long time!” He shrieks inhumanly.

He would be embarrassed, but Harry is just as hyped. “I know!” A happy tear comes out of Harry’s eye, and he wipes it. “Sorry, I’m crying but in a cool way.”

Zayn cackles at that, and gives Harry the biggest and longest hug, followed soon after by a kiss. Thank Allah all of their hard work finally paid off.

***

All five members of One Direction are in a bar, Niall forced into the role of the ‘designated driver’ simply because the other four got off-their-faces-drunk long before they did. Zayn laughs as he watches them stare at that beer with desire, unable to drink anymore of it now.

It’s karaoke night at this bar and all five of them ask to go up to the stage together. The bartender is wary because having four drunk boys and one Niall on the same stage is a horrible idea probably, but those four drunk boys and one Niall are nothing if not stubborn, so the bartender just shakes their head and says, “Fine. But if you break anything you’re out.”

“Us? Break anything???” Louis stutters, wobbling and almost knocking over a water bottle on the table beside him. “Never!!!” They all laugh, and the bartender just sighs.

The five of them go up to the stage a little bit later and start singing. “When I’m fat and old, and my kids think I’m a joke, cause I move a little slow when I daaaance…” They sing at varying degrees of coherence. “I can count on you, after all that we’ve been through, cause I know that you’ll truly understand… I WON’T ACT MY AGE, NO I WON’T ACT MY AGE.”

They are probably an absolute mess and embarrassing every sober person in the vicinity, but they don’t care. They are having fun, with each other, no bad blood in sight. Sometimes Zayn will still reminisce and be blown away at how far they’ve come, from sworn enemies to a crime-fighting team. If he has to thank Fulwell 73 for anything, he supposes he will thank them for bringing Niall and, especially, Harry into his life. He hopes both of them will stay in it forever.

 


End file.
